Educational reform is becoming synonymous with accountability. However, designing an effective accountability system poses serious challenges for states as is clear from the progress and pitfalls experienced by states such as Texas, Kentucky, and California. For example, many states tend to overload their new accountability programs, resulting in overly complex systems with questionable reliability, validity, and fairness. This Knowledge Brief is aimed at policymakers and educators now in the process of designing or redesigning accountability programs. It identifies seven key questions that must be addressed in planning an accountability system and lays out the issues, options, and potential pitfalls relevant to each. These questions are: (1) What are the primary goals to be accomplished with an accountability system? (2) What indicators should be included in the system? (3) Which students should be included in the system and when should they be tested? (4) What is the most appropriate accountability model for a given situation? (5) What consequences can the accountability model support? (6) How can the intended and unintended effects of the accountability system be evaluated? and (7) What will be done about the problems uncovered through the accountability system? Models currently used in Texas, Kentucky, and California are briefly described. (RT)