Are Grades a Measure of Intelligence or Compliance?

Opinion by Ben Lo, Grade 9

If Albert Einstein were a student today, would he get straight As, or detention for disobedience? Grades loom over students like scores given to them by God on judgement day, but what do they actually measure? Do they reflect rigid IQ scores, a measure of academic potential, or simply an outcome of their capability to adapt to classes and teachers?

To begin, grades could possibly determine academic ability. They measure mastery of material, content, and the ability to think under testing pressure. For a subject such as mathematics or science, where answers could be correct or incorrect based on objective standards, grades may seem like a fair assessment. Even so, it is not quite as straightforward. Many students memorize formulas, definitions, and historical facts a few days prior to an exam, only to forget them afterwards. This “cramming” strategy commonly leads to high results with minimal retention of knowledge on the topic. Grades, in this manner, sometimes reflect short term memory and test taking skills much more than intellectual depth and understanding. 

Grades also heavily reward compliance with the system. Getting tasks done on time of strict deadlines, writing exams and essays by strict format rules that teachers may enforce, and keeping quiet in class often are worth as much as, if not more than, innovative thinking or critical analysis. It can be difficult for students who question assumptions and think beyond the curriculum to achieve high marks. Grades thus quantify one’s ability to cope within a controlled system, not how well one can manage outside of academics and school.

Finally, grades are often highly subjective, shaped by a teacher's personal biases and preferences. What one teacher considers "well written" is what another would call "sloppy" or "wordy." Cultural assumptions, unconscious bias, and a student's classroom behavior can significantly influence the marks that are given, so they are at best an assessment of how well a student performs in relation to a teacher's personal expectations.

What do grades truly reflect? The answer is very likely somewhere in the middle. Numbers that students are given measure both ability and rule obedience. A student who both understands material and is a good rule follower will be much more likely to succeed, than a student who only excels at one. This means that grades do have some value of importance as a metric, but they are far from the perfect measure of a student's ability and intelligence. 

Ultimately, grades only show part of the picture, they showcase one’s ability to understand knowledge and adapt to a system, but they cannot measure the full case of intelligence, creativity, or the true potential of a student.