UK: further education colleges (bit like community colleges in US I believe) have vocational qualifications called BTEC National Diplomas. These are 'level 3' (that means good for university entrance) and assessed largely by criteria. The teacher of each unit has to devise assignments/projects that cover the criteria. We have a moderation process on the assignments to make sure they do actually cover the criteria (before the students do the projects!) and then the student work itself is subject to sampling and moderation.
It can work very well indeed. Younger teachers with vocational experience (e.g. graphic designers teaching part time) can produce superb briefs that they even get 'customers' to evaluate.
I once had to write a University level module on 'scientific method'. That could be really dry, but I hit on the idea of getting the students to interview a research scientist of post-doc or higher experience level (the university in question had plenty of those around) about the extent to which the philosophers' idea of the scientific method actually worked. Each group of students rapidly found a lot of tension around the publishing and peer review processes. Big discussions! Good quality reports!
Do you have adult basic education in the US? Sorting out people's basic maths (I mean being able to check their change, find the value of a percentage, check wage slips) is another area where there is a lot of autonomy and opportunity for creativity.
Have the OA and others here given thought to mentoring teachers that are in training? They can challenge your assumptions and refresh your practice as well.
The only thing I could think of is starting my own school but I haven't gotten myself to make that jump yet.