Short note on assessment

I was pondering over the concept of assessment for the last two days. The usual scenario when I was still lecturing was I would try to create final assessment which contained 'difficult and tricky' questions to determine whether the students are prepared to provide answers for something which they not learned directly from the classes. Now, since I am no longer teaching, I have the chance to rethink about this. Based on the literature that I have been reading, the question asked is "Is assessment meant to test what the students know or what they do not know?" I relate this to the purpose of learning or education. If learning is the focus of education, then we should be setting assessment that would test what the student have learned and not what they have not learned. Perhaps this is the reason why we are getting the so-called 'bell curve' for so many years. By doing so, we could actually be discriminating or excluding some students who might otherwise be perfectly all right to perform different vocations as adults in the employment market. Perhaps a better form of assessment would be projects and assignments compared to examinations. With the advent of e-portfolios, I think this can be a better choice.