Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the policy process that led to the passage of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in the United States and the Bush Administration's role in this process. Design/methodology/approach: The research design is historical and archival. A description of the NCLB Act is given and the major provisions and implementation are focused upon. How the Bush Administration helped create the opportunity to pass the NCLB Act by building coalitions, and how public opinion affected the evolution of the policy process is focused upon. Finally, a description is given on how policy ideas like the concept of "accountability" shaped the policy process, and both inspired and constrained the Bush Administration. Findings: The paper argues that the Bush Administration helped create the opportunity to pass the NCLB Act by building coalitions, and public opinion affected the evolution of the policy process. Policy ideas like the concept of "accountability" shaped the policy process, and both inspired and constrained the Bush Administration. Research limitations/implications: The case is limited to the United States and NCLB, although those cases are particularly important in North America and in evaluation-based research. Practical implications: The paper shows how a policy designer can be limited both by political initiatives and his or her own conceptual grounding. Originality/value: This paper is one of the first to connect the policy process that guided President Bush's design of the NCLB legislation with the concept of "accountability". Accountability is a foundational concept in the design of quality assurance systems. (Contains 5 figures and 8 notes.)