I'm really curious why it is that students seem to just inherently care about test scores. Surely they were born with such passion for seeing "A" over "B" over "C," and so on.
If they were taught to care about deeper principles from day one, I guarantee they would care about deeper principles by year 8.
That would take a society that also cares about deeper principles, starting with parents etc., and not just "getting into university" and "getting a good job" (and that's when it's not just "make shitloads of money").
If they were taught to care about deeper principles from day one, I guarantee they would care about deeper principles by year 8.