The goal of this special issue of "Educational Psychologist" is to consider the challenges of schooling in the age of accountability. Four experts were invited to review and evaluate the relationship between school accountability and school improvement, professional development, assessment, and student motivation. Each article provides suggestions for improving the effect that high-stakes accountability associated with No Child Left Behind has on schools and student achievement. A commentary of the articles is provided by Good, Wiley, and Sabers in which they critique the articles and make four suggestions for improving the accountability debate in the future. In addition, a conceptual framework is presented that links standards-based education to assessment, accountability, and school variables such as improvement, professional development, and motivation. (Contains 1 figure.)