The Massachusetts Department of Education's Accountability and Targeted Assistance (ATA) Center maintains and manages the state's School and District Accountability System. Results from the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) are used to identify public schools and districts that are likely to require state intervention in order to ensure improvements in student performance, and to identify schools with exemplary performance and improvement. Schools and districts that fail to meet State performance and improvement standards for four or more consecutive years are identified as Commonwealth Priority Schools and are provided with targeted assistance to support district-led improvement efforts. State intervention in underperforming schools and districts is a multi-step process described in this report. Schools exiting Commonwealth Priority School status as a result of sustained student performance gains will be eligible, for the first time this year, for "Sustaining Success" grants. Those schools showing significant improvement in their students' performance in Mathematics and English Language Arts are eligible for designation as Commonwealth Compass Schools. Several attachments are appended. [This report was funded by FY08 Budget Line Item 7061-9408.]