The accountability debate tends to devolve into a battle between the pro-testing and anti-testing crowds. When it comes to the design of a school accountability system, the devil is truly in the details. A well-designed accountability plan may go a long way toward giving school personnel the kinds of signals they need to improve performance.…

Discusses how advocacy groups use standards movement to obtain more school spending from state legislatures through the courts. Describes New York and North Carolina cases wherein plaintiffs used states' standards and performance expectations as evidence of the states' failure to provide an adequate education for all students, especially poor and…

Argues that three major educational reform efforts since "Risk," overlooked or underappreciated by Koret Task Force, are now seeing results: State standards and accountability, advances in research on cognitive development of young children, and efforts to improve teacher quality. Disagrees with task-force assertion that more money will…