The study found that performance-driven practices offer states useful insights as they engage in rigorous improvement efforts that are connected to statewide standards but are driven by local context. The study found that becoming a performance-driven organization has as much to do with managing people and processes, that is, shaping the culture and practices of the organization, as it does with the particular goals,and policies that they have in place; that professional development is a crucial tool in the adoption of performance-driven practices; and that discontinuity of leadership, fragmentaion among departments, lack of technology infrastructure, and the organizational culture of many school districts has not been geared toward the sharing and analysis of student achievement results in order to improve instruction and programs.