Are School Results a good gauge on how 'smart' a kid is?

I believe we've all heard this justification:

Kid A: I'm smarter than you.
Kid B: Why?
Kid A: I got all B's, but you got 3 B's and 2 C's.

So, what is your standpoint on this?

Do you think that If a person gets straight A's, then he is smarter than a person who gets straight B's?

 

There have been many people in history that have performed academically bad, but invented/discovered many useful things that led to modern science, so I think we can all safely agree that it's a no.

 

Irrelevant.

What we are at present is what we are at present. One could argue that next year Kid A, and Kid B reversed roles; getting straight B's is also 'academically bad'.

You can perform 'academically bad', yet take off after school is finished.

I actually made this because I was bored, and I already agree that there is no cause and effect relationship between school grades, and knowledgeable/intelligent.
I just wanted to hear peoples justification,

 

That still won't mean that Kid B suddenly became 'smarter'. It would just mean he studied better than Kid A this year. Some people like to say that whoever gets higher grades is 'smarter', but that's not true at all. If you take survival lessons, but can't actually survive in real life without an instructor even after a lot of training, people will just call you 'dumb'.

As Finn said, we are always inferior to others in at least one way. A fat smarty couldn't beat an athlete in a race.

 

Kid A could've studied less, and Kid B's brain could've developed even further. However, present not future.

Why will people call you dumb? In a fully practical survival scenario, this would never happen.
Also, theory and practice are different.

Read how to swim and learn how to perform a perfect freestyle stroke.
Then go swim, without performing freestyle ever.

Theory and practice are different.

I said 'smart', not physically capable.

 

Grades, to me, are a fucking game.

It takes little to no intelligence in order to fucking MEMORIZE ( that's all it is ) what the teachers are talking about. Just because I don't turn in shit doesn't mean I'm stupid, it simply means I don't care.



Grades are a better indication of dedication to school rather then actual intelligence.

 

No, the reason he has 3 B's and 2 C's could be from many factors. For example, my friend has more knowledge than I do, but, I make a 3.0, and he doesn't even have a 2.0. The reason for this is because he is very lazy, he knows the material, but he skips classes, doesn't turn in homework, doesn't attempt the classwork, etc.

 

Intelligence, arguably.

Knowledge, probably not.


Let's take Intelligence. If not school grades, how would we gauge it? Please don't say an IQ test.

Knowledge, if you don't memorize what the teacher has said, then you haven't retained the knowledge, and thus, your not as knowledgeable. If you don't care, then you have no proof that you are smarter than other kids.

 

Still won't prove which kid has more 'intelligence' just because Kid A became lazier.

When you fail something despite trying it countless times or even when given precise instructions, yeah, I think people would call you dumb.

I meant inferiority. But yeah, that was sort of irrelevant.

Well said.

 

You race in a race, the fastest man on the planet.
You finish 7th.
You say 'I am very lazy, I know I can run faster, but I chose not to, ask George, he'll testify'.

How do you know how your friend has more knowledge than you do?

 

Intelligence and knowledge are 2 different things.

Theory and practice are not the same.
When teaching people scuba diving, cave diving works better, they have to go through a 'panic test'.
During a panic test, their are FAR LESS if any confounding variables.
In real life, there are countless, I could blame my shock for being in such a situation as reason for my failures.
Many people pass the panic test, yet die from failing it in real life.

Dedication = good grades?
Lack of dedicaton = bad grades.
I'm not dedicated to school, yet I maintain pristine grades; cept for English; fuck that teacher.

 

There's nothing to debate.

All it is right now is what people think about school grades and other things that are irrelevant.

You guys have moved from one topic to another. It went from "Do grades actually measure how smart one is" to

"You race in a race, the fastest man on the planet.
You finish 7th.
You say 'I am very lazy, I know I can run faster, but I chose not to, ask George, he'll testify'.

How do you know how your friend has more knowledge than you do?"

All this...truly has no point. Nothing to debate. School grades have shown to prove nothing, too many factors to consider something realistic. Its simply standards, standards will rise trying to adapt and better show results.

 

I don't think they offer they complete picture. It may be that the A students exerts more effort on studying due to their parents. The other kid may be capable of achieving A's but s/he is not that interested in the subject matter. They could be better at public speaking or something else that matters in life. It is also interesting that there is a correlation between high GPAs and high IQ.

 

Honestly, nothing anymore is a good indication of how smart someone is, especially not school systems of any kind; public schools especially. It's more like.. Who can do their homework. Who follows the rules and feels overpowered by the undeserved egos of school teachers and principals. I, for example, almost did not graduate with my class due to lost credits. I also got a 29 on my ACT which, granted is not that great, is a better score than 99% of my classmates and about 96% of the country. Why? Because I never did an ounce of homework. Not because I have some kind of hatred for homework, nor do I think it is unfair like most kids do. I was a lazy fuck who smoked a lot of pot and literally came to 90% of my senior year still drunk from the night before. I'm 19 years old and I'm currently a manager at a well known, nationwide company. I make more than most teachers do, which, in my opinion, is kind of a slap in the face to them for almost failing me. However, that's beside the point.

The point here is no, schools do not judge how 'smart' someone is. They are a tool for less fortuante people who are not well enough equipped to face the world. You go to school to gain evidence of WHY you are smart without actually BEING smart. You can succeed in school without an ounce of intelligence as long as you work hard enough to please the powers that be.

 

No not at all, most people cannot be arsed with school so put no effort in. You can only base it around whether someone wants it or not. Whilst some kids like to try get top results, others prefer to spend less time revising and just getting the bare minimum requirements.

 

the answer is simply no.

 

You can't simply say "no" in an intelligent conversation forum. That is just my opinion, though.

 

Grades are about working the system, not your intelligence. Hard work and ability to write a paper or take a test are much more important.

 

Well I thought at first that it that good grades correlated with motivation, not intelligence... but good grades could also be the result of seeing how doing good work can be possibly attributed with adjusting well to a work environment.

Overall no, you can not tell if someone is smart based on their grades.

 

I don't think so.
I agree with Jayto. School grades are motivation, persistance and not having a life. I'm smart, but I just don't try at school. When I do apply myself, I get A's and high B's for assignments etc.