Research on motivation makes it clear that focusing entirely on performance, whether grades or test scores, destroys whatever intrinsic interest the subject matter might have had,
It's a common thing too, sadly. I think standardized tests, which have become the quintessential focus of education all the way up to the federal level, are slowly tearing education apart. It becomes the singular goal of the student to perform well on these tests; it becomes the singular purpose of the class to prepare for this test. The essence of education is lost. There's also much to be said about pretension over college rankings and such. Exiting high school, I knew jack shit about different colleges or even all of higher education for that matter. Yet I still had picked up the idea that certain colleges were for underachievers and community college was a walk of shame. In retrospect, people that went to CC had their stuff figured out much better than I did, and big universities offered a trade-off instead of a better education. At the prestigious university you would get interesting opportunities in research and faculty choice. You would also have professors who didn't come there to teach, very obviously. Funds were also spread out to places other than students. Yet any local CC probably had a better equipped lab or music room or what-have-you with, stocked with equipment that students were actually allowed to touch. Professors were there strictly to teach. The CC was completely focused on its students.Stipek recalled her daughter’s response upon completing her French AP test. Rather than looking forward traveling or having a useful skill, she was relieved that she’d never have to speak French again.
As an undergrad I spent a semester at Michigan State University. My class sizes were in the 100's, and the only person i could talk to one-on-one was a TA. I switched to Oakland University, which was much smaller, and my class sizes dropped by an order of magnitude. By the time I was in 400 level courses, there were 5-10 students. I knew the faculty, and they knew me. I ended up being published twice in scientific journals before I got my undergraduate degree. At MSU the most research I could have hoped for was to wash glassware.
It seems common sense. My wife is Chinese, and she said that she had hobbies and was an avid reader before high school. After that, there was no place for curiosity and creativity. IMHO it's no mistake that China is known to have a dearth of creativity and innovation. At some point competitive education does more harm than good. Assessment tests are next to useless.