In the United States, federal and state accountability policies put demands on educational agencies that often exceed their capacity. As a result, a variety of educational organizations are contracted to design and implement policy. Programs and services offered by these contractors are not only instrumental in the process of mediating and implementing policy, but may also be instrumental in translating research into practice. To explore this issue, a case study is conducted using vendor proposals for Delaware's data coach initiative. Data are analyzed through content and citation analyses to examine the degree and nature of research use by selected educational contractors. This research offers not only new directions for studies of research use in policy, but also lessons for policymakers and practitioners who seek the services of educational contractors.