Accurate, meaningful, and effective benchmarking methods present major difficulties to the staff and administration of all educational institutions. In "Data Don't Drive," Dowd points out how benchmarking methods might be improved to offer a more comprehensive assessment of a school's performance, focusing in particular on community colleges. According to the author, community colleges must shift from a "culture of evidence," which looks mainly at raw, static data, to a "culture of inquiry," which enables students, staff, and faculty to take an active role in assessing the performance of their institution. A culture of inquiry permits, as Dowd notes, the realistic envisioning of faculty, staff, and administration as "potential agents of change," (1).
             All assessment methods are inherently flawed, biased by the individuals or organizations who suggest, design, and implement them. Rather than add to the biases within data-driven performance benchmarking, a culture of inquiry can in fact create a more holistic and realistic, more thorough and meaningful assessment tool. Performance benchmarking should become more multifaceted, too, taking into account wide ranges of issues related to the school in question. Such issues might be raised by staff or students, who take part in the benchmarking process in a culture of inquiry.
             If performance benchmarking is designed to enhance student academic and career successes, then data collection and analysis must be more substantive than it has been in the past. Through diagnostic benchmarking, conducted through student surveys and rooted firmly in scholastic research, theories, and evidence, community colleges and other educational institutions can view a more accurate portrait of a school's performance and point out more readily and more accurately areas that need improvement. When possible, benchmarking methods can compare results with similar...