Thanks to globalization, benchmarking is becoming a significant way to prepare students for leadership worldwide. The National Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and Achieve, the standards-advocacy group, are analyzing how well the U.S. is doing in comparison with other countries.

According to Free Management Library, benchmarking is an analysis of both quantitative and qualitative indicators in any field of economy.

Benchmarking uses standard measurements in a service or industry for comparison to other organizations in order to gain perspective on organizational performance. For example, there are emerging standard benchmarks for universities, hospitals, etc.

Education Week reports that the question of whether the States will participate in the Program for International Student Assessment is yet to be decided.

All three organizations, which are based in Washington, are also spearheading the work of a new advisory group, made up of policymakers, researchers, and education advocates, that will study international benchmarking and what it might look like in a practical sense. The group, which will meet this spring, will advise the NGA staff members as they hammer out the policy paper to be given to the governors.

The magazine also quotes Dane Linn, the director of the NGA’s education division, speaking about the importance of having a highly educated workforce.

“States, education systems, and the people who work in schools must ensure that students are going to be able to take advantage of high-wage and high-skill jobs that are essential to state economies.”

Photo: © Winnie Quan