Assessment is a critical component of teaching and learning but many educators, parents, and students have expressed concerns about the amount of assessment occurring in schools across the country. Standardized assessments have received a great deal of publicity as the culprit of over-testing. However, standardized assessments are only part of a complicated assessment equation that includes teacher preparation and local district and school decision making. The objective of this paper is to engage educators in a reflection on the perceptions versus the realities of over testing, and the consideration of needed solutions to encourage the development of balanced assessment systems that use the minimal amount of assessment needed for essential diagnostic, instructional, and accountability purposes.