"Improving Educational Performance: Local and Systematic Reforms," Volume 5 of the series published in 1997, examines improvement of educational performance through state and local reform efforts and through increases in school choice opportunities. Researchers present operational frameworks that address the perceived failure of public schools to provide high levels of student academic performance. These frameworks included measurement, motivation, and accountability in local school districts; state-driven systemic reform of curriculum standards; and accountability through school choice and school-centered reform. Perspectives presented on accountability and educational performance compare the effects of centralized governance and local authority, examine the relative benefits and adverse effects of state government and market competition on school operations, and review the tensions between professional and community control of instruction and assessment.