As Congress considers reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), schools again stand at the center of the accountability movement. Most states have spent significant time, energy, and resources to develop accountability systems that explicitly define what students are expected to learn at each grade level and how this learning will be measured. Educators are working hard on the challenge of helping all kids learn, but a recent study comparing test results from 12 states with National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results calls into question not only the rate of progress in closing the achievement gap, but whether states are lowering the bar for passing state tests. In some states, the disparity between state and NAEP results actually widened from 2002 to 2006 (Olson,