And the planned introduction, this April, of a nationwide value-added tax levied by India's state governments is, if China's experience in the 1990s is a guide, another hopeful measure.

ECONOMIST: India and China

If there is no objective measure to guide our decisions, if there are no facts that can be counted among our arguments, the weight of our argument is diminished.

FORBES: The Death of the Fact

From a total factor productivity standpoint, a guide post used by economists to measure capital investment in an economy, Brazil grew 1.2 percent over the last 8 years ending 2010, while Mexico grew just 0.1 percent.

FORBES: Can Mexico Overtake Brazil By 2022?

And if lessons learned from addressing equally complex challenges in other sectors are any guide, investing in a reliable system to measure and support effective teaching will pay rich dividends.

CNN: Bill Gates: Invest in better teaching