The national push for educational accountability has focused attention on the need for effective teachers and high-quality instruction. The problem is that even among certified teachers, the meaning "high-quality instruction" often varies significantly from one teacher to the next, and one school to the next. Obviously, a lack of alignment between the intended curriculum and the assessed curriculum is a source of trouble, so states and districts expend a great deal of effort linking their official curricula to established standards or assessments. What is not so obvious is the potential discrepancy between the intended curriculum and the implemented curriculum. In the author's former position as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at Montgomery Public Schools (MPS) in Alabama, one of the district's goals was to improve student achievement. This article recounts the author's past experiences while instituting new measures and data-based professional development for 13 schools that failed to meet adequate yearly progress requirements in the 2002-03 school year.