Tests teach discipline, and they are the most practical way of testing knowledge in some areas. However, no matter how you make the metric, this problem is larg

Tests teach discipline, and they are the most practical way of testing knowledge in some areas. However, no matter how you make the metric, this problem is largely psychological. To do well, a student must be motivated to learn. And one of the biggest motivators at this level is that "I always am at the top of my class in this subject, so I enjoy it." Not everyone can be at the top, so naturally the others won't care as much. They will stop trying to get an A and settle with "not failing." And the students who start failing will stop caring completely. If you hide a student's ranking, then that initial motivation, "I do better than the others," disappears and we are left with students who must be entirely self motivated. And that happens so rarely that it isn't a practical motivator.