Bills passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate in spring 2001 to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reinforce and strengthen the education accountability provisions contained in the Improving America's Schools Act (IASA) of 1994. This paper evaluates the accountability provisions in this legislation against the goals of equity, feasibility, flexibility, and focus. The research for this work is based on state accountability systems and hypothetical examples that illustrate the operation of the legislative provisions. Research questions considered include whether the proposed system of provisions is equitable, feasible, flexible, and focused. Recommendations include: state accountability systems should set improvement goals that ensure that all students meet their state's proficient level of achievement within an appropriate timeframe; adequate yearly progress (AYP) definitions should ensure continuous progress, yet be flexible; the AYP should focus on closing the achievement gap; accountability timelines should create incentives to improve practice, yet ensure that schools have sufficient time and resources to make lasting changes; and schools and school districts should have sufficient resources to help all students reach their state's standards. (Contains 13 references.) (RT)