This book is about how the process of deciding about education, or education policymaking, can be informed by research-based knowledge. Part 1 offers three chapters that attempt to clarify the central issues caught up in the problem of knowledge utilization--why there is so little utilization of research in educational policymaking, how research should be conducted, the ways in which policymaking has been conceptualized, and the actors involved in the policymaking process. Three chapters in part 2 lay out the major perspectives on utilization of research knowledge in education--policy dialogue as communication and persuasion, as negotiation, and as participation and organizational learning. The six chapters in part 3 present case studies of research utilization in educational policymaking as they occurred in Colombia, Egypt, El Salvador, Honduras, Namibia, and Paraguay. Part 4, the concluding chapter, lays the foundation for a heuristic model that identifies nine situations, or moments of action, for educational change. (Contains 167 references). (LMI)