Global inscription devices transform complex educational realities into comparable scales, ratings, and rankings. While a full-fledged theory about global inscription devices and their impact upon educational policy is still lacking, this paper suggests a handful of issues that such theory should account for. Applying a socially constructivist approach looking at both connections and disconnections, it is suggested that the way global inscription devices connect to institutional hinterlands is decisive for their resources, framings, and world views. The role of media and of national political actors is also discussed. Finally it is suggested that global inscription devices are productive with regard to new sets of evaluative tools across time and space. The impact of global inscription devices upon education hinges partly on how they enrol institutions and actors in new ways and partly on how they circumvent conventional democratic regulation.