Literacy assessments are transforming the contexts of secondary instruction. This article reports how literacy assessments are shaping the instructional choices of nine English Language Arts teachers who work in three different states in northeastern United States--New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Through interviews, the teachers reported that they are finding creative ways to not teach to the test, but most of their instructional choices are being shaped by their perceived expectations of the state exam. On a micro level, the reports documented in this article have implications for secondary literacy instruction, while simultaneously providing a stance for conversations about how teachers can reshape their perceptions of effective literacy instruction on a macro level.