As educational metrics proliferate, individuals need to be increasingly sensitive to what they stand for in addition to what they seem to say. And because many of the authors of these metrics will not reveal what is behind the curtain, examining the features just reviewed can help individuals determine the values embedded in what appear otherwise to be value-neutral statistics. In this article, the author asserts that no one can honestly contend that metrics are "objective." If individuals are clear about their core convictions when building such metrics, transparent about how they calculate, and upright in honoring the canons of good evidence, they can create powerful tools to shape sound policies and to mobilize public support for them.