It is possible for a district to develop a system of accountability that defines appropriate roles for lay citizens, pupils, teachers, administrators, and the board of education. It is not necessary for accountability to be imposed from the State level through mandates requiring Statewide assessments, competency-based teacher certification plans, pre-manufactured planning and evaluating formats, and the like. What is needed from the State level is expertise, money, and help in training members of the teaching profession to plan and evaluate more systematically what they are doing. It is ultimately teachers and administrators at the building and district levels who, with the help of lay citizens, build accountability systems that work. (Author/WM)