This past week, Education Secretary Duncan made some remarks to the Education Writers Association in which he emphasized, among other things, the need for understanding our educational priorities.  We cannot get lost among the trees of strategies and metrics before we define the forest.  As we as a nation undergo this enormous effort to revitalize our education system, we must first agree on our common outcomes.  For what purpose does our public education system exist?  To prepare students for careers?  To prepare them for citizenship?  To prepare them for college? There are many different perspectives.

Only after we've reached a modicum of consensus around what schools are meant to accomplish and the key indicators of success, we will continue to struggle over how we measure, manage, and improve student outcomes.