Can I be defined by a number?

My colleagues and I were having a great conversation around Data, Data-drive decision making, and numbers.  It was riveting and got me thinking.

Is there a number, any number really, that I would want to define me?

Credit Score

Test Score

BMI

Reading Level

AimsWeb Benchmark

IQ

Driving test score

Often I'm in meetings when we talk about kids, then list numbers associated with that kid.  Do we spend enough time on the qualitative descriptions of students than we do the test scores that they achieve.

What if we started discussing:

Likes/Dislikes

Family History

Home life

Favorite colors/foods/songs/movies

I'm not asking to eliminate ALL data from conversations with students, I'm just asking us to not LEAD with data.  Let's lead with the things that make a student special, unique, individual and real.

I'll be honest and say there is NO, I repeat NO, number I want to define me.  Please don't let numbers define the kids in your schools.