The standards and assessments being employed across public schools do not seem to be moving us any closer to fully understanding precise challenges in individual schools and how to effectively resolve them. While some accountability systems have proved to be quite meaningful in some states, others have exposed the degree to which people are willing to manipulate data in order to appear successful. Our need for high quality assessment and evaluation tools is urgent in order to attain a greater level of specificity and relevance about the weaknesses plaguing student academic performance. Students, parents, teachers, administrators, and the general public deserve better data and feedback with respect to the areas in classrooms and schools that require significant overhaul or restructuring.

The role of private sector companies and professionals can be significant in this regard because they routinely design and utilize systems and processes that provide them with the data and information that they need to manage and evaluate their daily operations and decisions. By collaborating with public educators, private sector firms can potentially elevate how we all review and understand the inadequacies in our educational structures. Similar to their use of all kinds of sales, financial, and marketing data for marketing and operational decisions, private sector professionals can assist educators in the development of mechanisms which can offer greater insight into how to better allocate finite educational resources. The results orientation and management proficiency of private enterprises can also be useful to educators as there are increasing pressures to prove more effective utilization of human and financial capital. Educators must resist the urge to shun private sector partners and should instead adapt aspects of private enterprise that bode well for identifying and addressing academic weaknesses.