“Benchmarking” or “best practices benchmarking” (or whatever name it went by 30 years ago or whatever name it will be identified by 30 years hence) begs the question, “What the heck is this thing called benchmarking?” We bandy about the word like it has some deep meaning; but if you asked most administrators, they might tell you it is: (1) a statistic, which, (2) you want to achieve. And that would be the beginning and end of it— benchmarking that is.