To often, I write to your blog arguing that we need less data-driven accountability, and more data-driven decision-making. And we need to recognize why the two are mostly incompatible.

The Center for American Progress has shown that we could expand the school day by 30% at a cost of $720 per pupil or less. This would require a collaborative redesign of the school day. And it would require the key ingredient that has been missing for much of the last seven years – an honest conversation among all stakeholders.

We must bring community services into the schools, and we must take students out into the community, and we must do so at a time of fiscal crisis. Social workers, mental health professionals, probation officers, and medical providers all must be housed somewhere, and often the schools are the most cost-effective location. Many social providers would jump at the chance to intervene early in the lives of young people before physical and social problems metastasize. For instance the question is not whether we can afford to teach proper nutrition, but whether society can afford not to.

The longer school day, like a comprehensive set of social and educational services will not plan itself, however. The missing ingredient is communication among all stakeholders.

The threat of primitive and arbitrary data-driven evaluations and merit pay has concentrated the minds of teachers. We have responded with solid plans for Peer Review and Performance Pay that allow us to efficiently remove ineffective teachers (up to 10% a year), mentor new educators, and devise incentives for excellence. The key ingredient in both plans is respectful communication and trusting relationships. Of course, data must be an essential part of that conversation. In education, though, numbers are just a tool to help us with the people side of learning