>MCAT arguement The USMLE exams (Step I: basic science, Step IICK: clinical knowledge, Step IICS: clinical skills, and Step III: clinical problem solving) are

>MCAT arguement The USMLE exams (Step I: basic science, Step IICK: clinical knowledge, Step IICS: clinical skills, and Step III: clinical problem solving) are more like the bar exams. > this is a specious comparison because the exams you cite are professional vocational exams which correspond to a specific career path/domain. Well, you're throwing in the MCAT, which is an aptitude test based on Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, more like the GRE than the USMLE or bar exams. > there are so many different ways that things like literacy and numeracy manifest Literacy and numeracy can't be measured? You sure you want to hang your hat on that? Look, to quote Allah, I mean, pg, himself, (http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.html http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.html) > To get rich you need to get yourself in a situation with two things, measurement and leverage. You need to be in a position where your performance can be measured, or there is no way to get paid more by doing more. And you have to have leverage, in the sense that the decisions you make have a big effect. We can easily modify this paragraph to most if not all domains and industries. I leave as an exercise to the reader to modify it for "improving education".