More often, however, they are designed to promote a specific way of looking at the education status quo. Outcomes include data such as test scores, graduation and dropout rates, surveys of parent and student satisfaction, and tracking of achievement and income after school is completed. Inputs include spending, teacher training, textbooks and supplies, class size and curriculum. Descriptions include teacher and student demographics, enrollment, number of instructional days, and size of staff. These statistics are used everyday to frame the debate on public education.
Teachers use state and district salary rankings to bargain for higher pay.
Principals use enrollment figures to call for class size reduction and infrastructure support. Per-pupil spending is used as a barometer to determine a community's commitment to quality education. Critics of the education establishment also use statistics. Stagnant or declining SAT scores, lack of correlation between spending and achievement, and growth in school bureaucracies are their arguments of choice. Unfortunately, we may have reached the point where the statistics themselves are driving the debates.