My input should be just as valuable. Otherwise just put a robot in there. That's a good way to encourage students to give their best. At my old school, if you were absent more than 20 times, you had to go to summer school no matter how well you tested. This is one of the reasons why we lose good teachers.
Children learn different things at different rates.
That needs to be accepted and respected. I'm really interested in whether they comprehend what they read. I'm not sure that one 40-minute test gives me that information. Actually, it really doesn't. As opposed to their looking at the percentage 'at or above' grade level, what I would like to see them do is look at growth.