During the first half of the 20th century, standardized, psychometric student assessment challenged existing ways of conceiving education in Sweden and Germany. In both countries, primary teachers were particularly in favour of the new forms of “objective” assessment. However, despite certain similarities in initial conditions, the challenge of psychometrics had very different results in Sweden and Germany, with Sweden introducing a system of national tests already in the 1940s, while Germany almost totally abstained from this type of assessment for many decades to come. The presentation discusses some possible explanations for these differences, including differences in the way education as an academic discipline conceived its task and the differing “discourse coalitions” this made possible.