Spurred by federal and state mandates for improved performance, school districts across the country have become adept at establishing districtwide goals to raise student achievement. They have identified learning gaps among various student populations and now seek to close them. They have targeted improved performance in reading or math by grade level. Some districts have taken the additional step of aligning their human resources and finances to better achieve their student achievement goals. Most have engaged a broad community--including board members, parents, teachers, principals, business leaders, and others--in setting their strategic direction. While many districts have established effective processes for goal-setting, fewer have gotten traction in connecting those goals to what is actually happening within schools. Establishing districtwide and community-driven goals for high student achievement is an important step on the way to improvement. Without some real ways to align district objectives to what the schools are doing, those lofty goals inevitably lead to action that does not produce significant results. This article discusses how to use data to get from districtwide goal-setting to school-level performance. [For Part 3, see EJ762452.]