Every offense in football shares the same mission: score points. The best way to score points is the touchdown (big news, I know). To do this, teams utilize a combination of players with different skill sets suited to a number of different roles. Quarterbacks take the ball and put it in the hands of running backs and wide receivers who elude would-be tacklers as they advance the ball downfield. These "skill position" players score the touchdowns and get the accompanying glory. Every fall, millions of fantasy football owners across the country obsess over touchdowns and the skill position players who score them. But that's only half of the story.
 
While skill position players elicit big cheers for their conspicuous feats of athleticism, none of what they do would be possible without offensive linemen. Linemen protect the quarterback, giving him the time he needs to throw, and block oncoming defenders, opening up running lanes for the running backs to burst through. Lineman don't get the attention their teammates do, but their job is tough and their role is crucial. An NFL offense is a complex system and every part of that system must perform well for the team to score.  
 
But as tough as it is to move a football downfield against eleven big, fast, strong and angry men, it doesn’t begin to compare to the challenges facing society at large. Societal progress requires the coordinated efforts of many different players, even within an individual sector. Take K-12 education. The “touchdown” for the K-12 education system is fairly well agreed upon: prepare students for college and other life successes (though, admittedly, there is an ongoing debate about what exactly this means). Given this goal, it is easy to get focused on the sexy statistic: high school graduation rate. Make no mistake; all of us in the education sector want to increase the number of students who graduate high school prepared to succeed. But increased graduation rates won't happen through funding and support of high schools alone. 
 
The education sector needs more than just better teachers and administrators, the skill positions of the sector. It needs the education equivalent of high quality linemen too. It needs organizations that can attract talent to the sector which has historically gone elsewhere. It needs professional development providers to train teachers and administrators. It needs research organizations to design better school models, teaching approaches & curricula, the sector’s playbook. And it needs advocacy groups to educate and influence those who control the purse strings. While not all of these organizations can or should measure their success in terms of educational touchdowns, all are crucial parts of an effective educational offense.
 
But too often in our work we see the linemen of the education sector trying to measure their success in touchdowns. Often it’s because funders demand it. This myopic focus on just the ultimate goal is unfortunate. As a sector, we need to recognize that linemen don’t score touchdowns and that’s OK. We need to do a better job of explaining how the system works, the role each organization plays. And we need to measure and communicate each organization’s specific contributions. By helping providers focus their efforts and by helping funders see the connections and identify and support the truly productive organizations, we can more quickly and efficiently drive towards the end zone that is an ever growing pool of prepared graduates. Together we can light up the educational scoreboard.