I believe that there are multiple routes for a student to become successful, and it's up to the teacher-student relationship to foster a working relationship where both focus on the student's success. The success of a student isn't measured by knowledge of facts, but should instead be demonstrated by the understanding of content, to a level which is beyond rote memorization, and instead focuses on adequate application of the student's knowledge. It is the teacher's role to not create a dictionary or list of facts to be pulled from, but to encourage critical thinking, and application for any problem headed towards the student, be it an assignment, real-life problem, or research-based question.