You're absolutely right that you have to be careful about how you assess students' mastery of a subject. The fact that this does not seem easy isn't a good reas

You're absolutely right that you have to be careful about how you assess students' mastery of a subject. The fact that this does not seem easy isn't a good reason to shy away from it. A few ways that this can be dealt with: - Many courses already have a final exam well-established. Some states are starting to require that students be given the option to test out of core courses, and one option is to let them take the final. This doesn't mean take the final as many times as you want until you pass; we can set reasonable limits on offering opportunities to test out. - Portfolio-based assessment moves beyond just using standardized tests to assess competence. At my school, we set up independent studies frequently for students whose educational history is often checkered. These students develop a set of skills and knowledge in their course of study, and then demonstrate their understanding in a variety of ways. If you've set up the structures effectively, it's not overwhelming to individualize instruction for students who need it. One student's story: I knew a student who passed Algebra 1 and failed French 1 in 8th grade. In 9th grade he was given Algebra 1, and he was placed in French 2. His school wouldn't switch his classes; he failed Algebra because he refused to do all the work over again for a class he had passed, and he failed French 2 because he was in over his head. We gave this student the chance to test out of some of his math credit, and placed him in otherwise appropriate classes. When schools mess up, they often times have no idea how much that impacts individual students and their families.