This book reports on the outcomes of an international policy-research project concerned with how power is used in education to construct and discharge obligations among stakeholders. The collection of articles suggests how such processes might better serve educational ends. The research examines how the politics of education at the site and systemic levels have been contributing to the reconstruction of accountability policies in an international policy context, a context characterized by conceptual disarray, multi-reform strategies, blunt administrative instruments, and plurally political cultures. The text is divided into two parts. Part 1 reports on research conducted in North American settings, focusing on low-wealth school districts, on how to enhance accountability, on integrated governance, on authentic education accountability policies, and on patterns of social control in assessment practices. Part 2 provides research reports from England and Wales, and Australia, a comparative study of two Australian and Canadian systems, and then two philosophical chapters that examine some international dilemmas. (RJM)