I would argue that "knowledge" is an almost meaningless concept on its own. What assessments measure is a more complex form of "competency", and the competency

I would argue that "knowledge" is an almost meaningless concept on its own. What assessments measure is a more complex form of "competency", and the competency of being able to write an essay on a topic is different from the competency of passing an MCQ quiz about it and both are different from being able to apply it in the field. I don't have a clear solution, other than to have the assessments depend on what we're preparing people for. As an extreme example, I don't care how good of an essay a surgeon or anesthesiologist can write if they can't apply that under pressure.