National and state-based assessments have been a common practice for the past several decades. These assessments often come with high-stake consequences for students and schools, which tends towards the creation of a test-centric environment where educators prioritize test-based instruction to prepare students to be successful on those assessments. The over-arching purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how mandated high-stakes testing influences educators specifically within a complex system by first seeking to identify ways educators at different levels within the system--the classroom, campus, and district levels--perceive these testing influences. This study is based on complexity theory with a particular focus on complex adaptive systems (CAS) and frameworks from human systems dynamics (HSD), which helped to identify key tensions within a complex learning ecology. This study used thematic analysis of interview data from the classroom, campus, and district levels. Analysis also included mapping the emergent themes and patterns onto a CAS model for each level. Findings revealed a tension between a complicated, linear approach and a complex approach to curricular and instructional decisions that is moving those decisions ever closer to standardization. This study includes implications and recommendations for balancing these tensions for a healthy, complex learning ecology. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]