This book deals with studies of how new ideas, materials, or technologies can be used to improve elementary and secondary schools. Ernest House examines knowledge use in educational innovation from the technological perspective, which sees teaching as a technique that can be analyzed by subdividing it into its components; the political perspective, which recognizes group influence in school change efforts; and the cultural perspective, which acknowledges variation among groups and considers improvement efforts in terms of diffusing relatively unfamiliar cultural forms. Matthew Miles explores the body of present knowledge about the school as an organization and the properties that are typical, relatively stable, or commonly found in contemporary American schools. Sam Sieber proposes a model for studying knowledge utilization that considers the incentives and disincentives of school personnel. Karen Louis synthesizes the literature on how consultants, change agents, or linking agents affect school improvement and knowledge utilization. Michael Fullan investigates the role of teachers, principals, school district specialists, and superintendents in knowledge utilization at the school district level. Finally, Paul Behrman describes a new model to guide future research and action that recognizes the increasing complexity of educational change processes and the need to explore school changes within specific contexts. (Author/MJL)