"When Research Matters" considers the complex and crucially important relationship between education research and policy. In examining how and under what conditions research affects education policy, the book focuses on a number of critical issues: the history of the federal role in education policy; the evolving nature of educational policy research; the role of research in debates about reading, NCLB, and "out-of-field" teaching; how research affects policy by shaping public opinion, judicial rulings, and the decisions of district and school leaders; and the incentives that help explain the behavior of researchers and policymakers. Chapters include: (1) Structure and Science in Federal Education Research (Andrew Rudalevige); (2) The Evolving Relationship between Researchers and Public Policy (Jeffrey R. Henig); (3) Double Standard? "Scientifically Based Research" and the No Child Left Behind Act (Paul Manna and Michael J. Petrilli); (4) Research and the Reading Wars (James S. Kim); (5) Researcher Meets the Policy Realm: A Personal Account (Richard M. Ingersoll); (6) Education Policy, Academic Research, and Public Opinion (William G. Howell); (7) Calculated Justice: Education Research and the Courts (Joshua Dunn and Martin West); (8) Flying (Partially) Blind: School Leaders' Use of Research in Decision-making (Lance D. Fusarelli); (9) What Gets Studied and Why: Examining the Incentives That Drive Education Research (Dan D. Goldhaber and Dominic J. Brewer); (10) Considering the Politics in the Research Policymaking Nexus (Kenneth K. Wong); and (11) Conclusion: Education Research and Public Policy (Frederick M. Hess). Notes and index are included. [Foreword by Lorraine M. McDonnell.]