In all the acrimonious discussion surrounding No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), surprisingly little attention has been given to the actual impact of that legislation and other accountability systems on student performance. Now a reputable body, a committee set up by the National Research Council (NRC), the research arm of the National Academy of Sciences, has reached a conclusion on this matter. In its report, "Incentives and Test-Based Accountability in Education," the committee says that NCLB and state accountability systems have been so ineffective at lifting student achievement that accountability should be dropped by federal and state governments alike. The report can be expected to play an important role in the continuing debate over NCLB. Upon its initial release, the report captured top billing, appearing on "Education Week"'s front page. The NRC intends for the report to influence the NCLB conversation, rushing a draft version to the media five months before the completed report was available to the public. Unfortunately, the author argues that the NRC's strongly worded conclusions are only weakly supported by scientific evidence, despite the fact that NRC's stated mission is "to improve government decision making and public policy, increase public understanding, and promote the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge." He contends that there is more bias than evidence behind the NRC panel's conclusions. (Contains 1 figure.)