I see your points, and I wholeheartedly agree with the “end in mind” principle. We're reviewing our program application process and no one can tell use why the process even exists.

But I would encourage you to become familiar with the modern theories of reliability and validity in assessment. The way you outlined them in this article is how they're operationalized in research, which hasn't been advanced in about 50 years. In current measurement theory, everyone from Lee Cronbach to Samuel Messick spent the second half of the 20th century building more useful and philosophically sound concepts.