ABSTRACT
Educational policy research has historically focused on the costs and consequences of actions available to policymakers such as providing resources, introducing incentives, modifying school governance, and regulating credentials. The first argument of this chapter is that this approach to policy research is incapable of supporting substantial improvements in teaching and learning. My alternative view roots educational policy research in the study of well-conceived instructional regimes. As the chapters of the current volume illustrate, powerful ideas for improving instruction, rooted in basic research on children's learning, are increasingly available, and a concerted attempt to transform classroom instruction in order to take advantage of these ideas will reveal crucial questions for educational policy. Thus reframed, educational policy research can become a significant contributor to educational improvement. However, to realize this potential also requires the recognition that research on instruction faces challenging methodological problems that I shall consider.
