Studies show that by the time the average U.S. student graduates, she has taken more than 113 standardized tests. This is more than her peers in any other industrialized country. Is it time to put an end to this flood of testing?

In this probing magazine article, Kristina Rizga reports on the growing trend of students opting out of taking standardized tests. She examines the history of the testing movement and provides critical analysis of standardized testing’s harmful impact on students and education. Intended to level the educational playing field, the plethora of tests appears to be doing just the opposite.

What is the alternative to so much testing? Are there other, perhaps better, ways to assess student performance? Rizga’s article looks at new approaches to promote learning and to close achievement and opportunity gaps.

This article appeared on the Mother Jones website on August 24, 2015, and was featured in the September/October 2015 issue of the magazine.

Kristina Rizga is the author of Mission High: One School, How Experts Tried to Fail It, and the Student and Teachers Who Made It Triumph. The book was published in 2015 by Nation Books.