Having to pass tests prior to getting a diploma is a recent thing, at least to old dudes like me.

I stopped teaching twenty years ago. There were standardized tests in high school, but they were not used to determine progress or as graduation requirement. Social promotion was common - students were not held back under any circumstances, as it was assumed that the social stigma would be worse than the failure to actually learn anything.

We tested the students at the time they applied to college. Because were were publicly funded, open entry, we accepted all high school graduates regardless of how they scored. If they scored low, we moved them into remedial programs/courses.