I think there are two different things here. 1. Are the things that are being measured the right things? ie for teachers, you might look a pupils future job p

I think there are two different things here. 1. Are the things that are being measured the right things? ie for teachers, you might look a pupils future job prospects, suicide rates, incarnation rates, or some measure of happiness, rather than the immediate test scores. The wrong targets can cause damaging distortions. 2. Often the aim is to reduce poor performance by being prescriptive - but you have to be careful not to do that by reducing variation at both sides ( ie which includes constraining high performers ).