A growing movement to ground school curriculum in locally relevant material--often called place-based education--is capturing the attention of many rural educators. Some see this approach as a way to address the decline of rural communities, including the outmigration of youth, by preparing students to live productive and fully engaged lives in their home communities. However, this view of education may conflict with the national movement to adopt academic standards and accountability measures. This digest compares and contrasts the underlying commitments and practical implications of standards-based versus place-based education reforms. A review of the accountability movement of the past 10 years discusses its focus on training competitive workers for jobs in the global economy, the pattern most states followed in developing academic standards, and the creation of uniformity in school programs through the mechanisms of common educational standards and mandatory testing. In contrast, place-based pedagogy focuses on preparing citizens, local control, broad integrated curriculum, and practical problem solving. Ways in which educators can bridge the gap between the two approaches are discussed, and examples of successful place-based education are offered. (Contains 13 references.) (SV)