To test or not to test that is the question

Having a test or taking a test has always brought about negative feelings for me.  When the doctor says,"I would like you to have some tests."  I feel the anxiety.   When your mechanic says, “I need to do some tests on your car.”  I get anxious.  Maybe not as much as  when the doctor tells me I need a test but I do feel stressed.   Tests make people nervous.  That word test makes some children nervous too.    That fear of the unknown and then the fear of what comes next after the test.  I am trying to change my mindset about taking tests and therefore hopefully changing the mindset of students.  Fountas and Pinnell well known writers of intervention programs for struggling reader use the term assessment instead of tests.   Why do students need to be (tested)  assessed so much? Assessment is not teaching it is gathering information for teaching.  This information is necessary to make the teacher a better teacher thus making the student a better student.  I think if all of us look at assessment as gathering information to help us in the growth process.  We can teach students to be successful.  Assessment is my new word for the year in order to change the stress and help my students grow.