In the half century since James Coleman and his colleagues first documented racial gaps in student achievement, education researchers have done little to help close those gaps. At the dawn of the War on Poverty, it was necessary for Coleman and his colleagues to document and describe the racial gaps in achievement they were intending to address. Five decades later, more description is unnecessary. The research community must find new ways to support state and local leaders as they seek solutions. The 50th anniversary of the Coleman Report presents an opportunity to reflect on the collective failure and to think again about how education studies are organized and funded in the United States. In other fields, research has paved the way for innovation and improvement. In pharmaceuticals and medicine, for instance, it has netted better health outcomes and increased longevity. Education research has produced no such progress. Why not? This article discusses how education research can be put to work. [This article is part of a new "Education Next" series commemorating the 50th anniversary of James S. Coleman's groundbreaking report, "Equality of Educational Opportunity." The full series appears in the Spring 2016 issue of "Education Next."]