As an educator myself, I disagree. On the one hand you bemoan written tests as being only a snapshot of what a student knows that day; the next you decry that we need a method of helping students knows what they know so they can see where to improve. We already have that method...written tests. Now, do they need to be state-driven standardized tests with all the political baggage that comes along with them? No! But we need tests. Kids need tests. Kids needs to know what they don't know so they can learn. It's an ugly feeling finding out you don't know as much as you thought you did. But it's how we grow. Formative... summative... whatever. A good test not only assesses but it teaches too. That's why self-testing is considered to be the best method of study. It's where the rubber meets the road.