Grades, and End of Level Tests

I was asked an interesting question this week, and I'd thought I would share my response. The question basically was: "Do you think end of level tests motivate students to learn? Do you think that grades truly show what a student learned? What is the best way to measure what students learn?"
My response:

I think that end of level tests just frustrate students. I don't know anyone who looks forward to the end of levels, or anyone who really studies for them. Most people, don't study for english and science because they're usually pretty straight forward and easy, they're logical. As for math, my friends and I don't really study for it because it's mostly formulas and such. I don't really know how to study for something like that. End of levels are just basically the mandatory tests at the end of the year that every one dreads. On top of that, they're at the end of the year, when everyone is tired of school, fried, and just mentally exhausted. I'm at that point right now, and it feels like I'm in the middle of a storm I'm not motivated to study, or to do my homework. The only reason I do my homework is for the grades, as for the studying, I find that I can usually get pretty good grades without it. I just find myself procrastinating on assignments more and more, leaving less and less time to get them done. I don't want to do the work anymore because I'm so tired and exhausted. I'm just mentally fried and I feel like school is never going to end. I'm burning out I guess, ha.
I think grades are a very trivial thing. For some students, It shows what they've learned, for others, it shows their test scores, or that they do their assignments, or simply their motivation. It really depends on the class, the scores in the computers, how the class is taught, and how many assignments there are. Grades really depend on the students, and the teachers. If a teacher likes to put a lot of assignments in, then missing one or two doesn't really matter, and your grade will probably mostly rely on tests and quizzes. However, some teachers like to put 3 or 4 assignments in the whole year with one or two quizzes/tests so your grade really depends on the teacher and how they like to do things, and your own self motivation. One of the classes that bugs me the most is gym. I don't think it's fair to get graded on how fast you run, or how athletic you are. A lot of gym grades is participation, and sometimes, there are a lot of things affecting that. I, for example, haven't been running lately in gym as much because I have shin splints. It really sucks that I get graded on stuff like that when I'm injured.
I think that there is definitely a better way of evaluating what students learn in a year. They could write an essay showing what they learned, or do worksheets, for math as an example, that isn't multiple choice that covers the whole year and they have to show there work. I think that there are a lot of different ways that they could do this, they just don't.

Just 14 days of school left, and 19 days until school is out. I. Can't. Wait! :D