The phrase knowledge adoption refers to the ways in which policymakers take up and use evidence. Whilst frameworks and models have been put forward to explain knowledge adoption activity, this paper argues that current approaches are flawed and do not address the complexities affecting the successful realisation of knowledge-adoption efforts. Within the paper, existing models are engaged with and critiqued, and an alternative perspective presented. It is argued that this new take on knowledge adoption provides a more effective account of the process. The paper also illustrates how this model has been tested and what its implications are for educational policy development. (Contains 1 table, 2 figures and 3 endnotes.)