Findings of a case study that examined professional accountability in an elementary classroom are presented in this paper. Classroom observation, document analysis, and postobservation conferences were used to examine the practices and beliefs of one female teacher of second and third graders at a multicultural public elementary school in New York City during the spring of 1991. The first section describes the explicit classroom interactions between the students and teacher, with a focus on the accountability process. The second section discusses the teacher's own cognitive frames regarding her practice and organizes them in light of issues of accountability and pedagogical decisions. Findings suggest that the teacher's essential cognitive frame reflects a "learner orientation," which implies that her special knowledge of each student and her knowledge of the classroom community are at the center of her pedagogical decisions. The teacher exhibited four dimensions of professional accountability: a defined professional role; a sense of community and understanding of diversity; work grounded in children's experiences; and use of multiple accountability mechanisms. (Contains 24 references.) (LMI)