In all the elementary schools in the county, benchmark assessments were given six times a year in math and three times in reading; they were modeled after the questions anticipated on the Maryland School Assessment (MSA). Although results were sent to the school board, there were no cosmic consequences for the hourlong tests; they were supposed to be used by teachers to diagnose problems and adjust instruction. But at Tyler Heights Elementary School, benchmarks were seen as facsimiles of the MSA and treated with commensurate intensity. The first day of school was the last day the third-graders didn't write a BCR--a "brief constructed response," a paragraph-sized answer that's required on the state test. Using Tyler Heights as an example, this article illustrates how standards and students suffer when test scores are the only official indicator of school quality. (Contains 2 footnotes.)