This article reports results showing that the Independence, Missori school district failed to meet almost every one of its improvement goals under the No Child Left Behind Act. The state accreditation system stresses improvement over past scores, while the federal law demands specified amounts of annual progress toward the ultimate goal of 100 percent proficiency. Missouri gives credit for a narrowing of the achievement gap between low-scoring minority students and their peers, but No Child Left Behind goes further, by expecting the same performance results for all groups of students. While the Independence district did meet last year's performance targets for the federal law, it still failed to make adequate progress, because of the results for its black, Pacific Islander, and special education students. As in many states, Missouri education officials are considering changes to the state accountability system to make it more compatible with No Child Left Behind.