The frenzy of standardized test season has mostly passed for schools and students. Louisiana children took their state LEAP and iLEAP tests in April. Now they await their scores, which increasingly determine the fates of students, teachers and schools.

The weeks leading up to standardized tests are the most stressful time of year in New Orleans public schools. WWNO set out to report on the intensity of test time, and quickly hit upon a labyrinth of practices, rules and thinking that makes testing a world unto itself, in many ways an impenetrable one.

As this school year comes to an end, our series "Behind the Test" explores some of the systems and regulations that surround standardized testing and impact the results. That includes test security, verifying scores, test anxiety, and the value of the data that's driving expansion of testing to younger and younger students.