RE: Question 3: Assessment

Wurman, Ze'ev wrote in reference to Vasconcellos comment on the need for a diagniostic verse a norm reference test:

We certainly should have a diagnostic system - in fact, much of in-class assessment is exactly that. But shouldn't we *also* have norm referenced and standards-referenced as STAR provides? Don't we also need to know how our students measure on our standards, or vis-a-vis the rest of the nation? How otherwise we will ever improve the *system* as opposed to the individual child?

My response:

Why not develop a test that is covers a textbook level, is diagniostic-prescriptive, norm refernce, and criterion refernced to national standards. In other words a test that does all three. 
I mention this, becasue I think we have developed such a test, or a series of tests which was first implemented and evaluated 30 years ago at  a major university chemistry department.