Comment by SiempreViernes
6 years ago
Well, getting a good picture of how a student is doing is important for teaching them properly, so test that provides such a picture efficiently would be serve to clarify the actual needs of the students.
The problem is that tests tend to be subverted into tools for ranking the students, which doesn't serve their learning.
A test is merely a tool. In the hands of a skilled professional, it can help cast light on the needs of the students.
In actual practice, they tend to not be used that way.