It's not a teachers job to teach "smart". It's a teachers job to teach the subject, which gives the students more tools to make themselves "smart". I'm not sure if there is any way you could design a schooling system that teaches "smart", short of outlawing homework so students have more time to teach it to themselves. (I'm only half joking).
There are a number of levels in teaching (and learning). You learn the basic facts (or processes), you learn to apply them in simple situations, and you learn to apply them creatively. This can be tested by multiple-choice tests, or more in-depth tests, but multiple-choice is fairly reliable and very cheap.
Besides, the difference between a "good" and "bad" student is pretty easy to measure, if you look at the broad population.
There are a number of levels in teaching (and learning). You learn the basic facts (or processes), you learn to apply them in simple situations, and you learn to apply them creatively. This can be tested by multiple-choice tests, or more in-depth tests, but multiple-choice is fairly reliable and very cheap.
Besides, the difference between a "good" and "bad" student is pretty easy to measure, if you look at the broad population.