The literature on social indicators appears to agree on what indicators cannot do Set goals and priorities. The public establishes educational goals and priorities through its elected representatives. The information generated by an indicator system can inform those objectives, but it is just one factor among many in shaping decisions about policy preferences and priorities. Indicators do not provide the level of rigor or detail necessary. Develop a balance sheet.
Social indicators lack the common referent available to economic indicators.
As long as cost is used as a proxy for value there is no way to compare inputs with outputs or to see whether a given amount of education is being produced with fewer resources. Rivlin also noted that because students help produce education, it is difficult to disentangle the quality of the output from the quality of student input. What Indicators Can Do. Decisions emerge from a mosaic of inputs, including valuational and political, as well as technical components. Validating policy indicators.