Evaluating assessment in schools

An article in the Huffington post last year highlighted success stories in our public school system with a focus on increased achievement in test scores.  Certainly it would appear that an increase in test scores correlates to success.  Thinkers in the progressive school of thought denounce such "achievements".  They argue and I agree that success is measured by learning and student engagement not by standardized tests. In fact testing is counterproductive to progressive education assessment. 

Progressives would look to the successes of places like The MET high school in Rhode Island where students engage in applied learning of concepts, real life assessment and student centered learning.  I won't spend too much time here explaining progressive education.  Wikipedia has a great page on it's philosophy, history and criticisms related to it.  I urge you to take a moment to read up if you are interested.

In terms of "success" the increase in testing demonstrates that we can train teachers to train kids to follow a set of rules for responding to questions.  It does nothing to reassure us that these children can think for themselves, retain a role in education (the high school drop out rate hovers between 9 and 10%), or gain the skills needed for success in the workforce.  No matter what we say and believe about the love for learning the ultimate measure of success in our current society is the ability to enter and contribute to the work force.
So this test measurement of success makes me wonder.  In Montessori education students exhibit mastery before moving on to the next level.  They must complete a "job" three times with no help and then they are ready for new lessons.  At the MET, 98% of students graduate and 89% go onto college.  Their success is not measured in SAT scores.  In fairness they are one of many successes and obviously a different assessment would need to hold true for lower grades.
Ultimately though it all comes down to the number of people who graduate from college? Do we include trade schools?  The role of assessment in our schools has taken the foreground in front of all else and to deny a hard look at the assessment tools at what we truly learn from them is ludicrous.