Since becoming president of the Alliance for Excellent Education in February 2005, the author has learned a great deal about the vital role that high-quality literacy research plays in improving teaching. Education researchers know how critical it is that they serve the needs of educators. As a former governor of West Virginia and member of the U.S. House of Representatives, the author wants to challenge the adolescent literacy research community to become much more aware of another critically important audience for their work: the local, state, and national policymakers whose actions--or lack of them--affect millions of students and their educational opportunities. However, merely becoming more intent on educating the policymaking community about research results will not be enough. Like it or not, the "way" that research findings are communicated to policymakers is as critical as the research itself. These men and women want to do the right thing for kids, and they welcome the valuable information and insights that researchers can provide. In this article, the author discusses ways on how research and researchers can influence the development of good policy and support effective education reform: (1) Plan your public presentations carefully; (2) Encourage college- and university-based literacy researchers to serve the schools; and (3) Visit a policymaker and share what you know.