How have assessments or tests influenced my life?

The first major test I ever took was in third grade to see if I qualified for the Gifted and Talented program in my district. I think it was a super-special G&T program because of the 15 or so of us taking the test, only one was qualified. I even remember his name even though we were not friends; he ended up skipping a grade and is currently a professor at Oxford (at age 30!). For some reason, I never quite got over this, as the test made me feel inadequate. I wonder how current school assessments make our students feel, or if they don't really care about them.

As a social studies teacher, I do not currently have to "teach to the test" as there are no state mandated history tests yet. I have plenty of time to spend on what I want within my curriculum as long as I reach the end of the material by the end of each term. That is, if I want to spend a month on the Civil Rights movement, I can, as long as I know I'm going to have to skim over the more modern topics. I've heard through the grapevine that there will be a history test coming in the next two years or so. I'm curious how this will change how social studies teachers teach.