The chapters in Section 3: “Politics and the Policy Process” demonstrate the vast range of topics, methods, and epistemological positions that exist in the fi eld. My role, in this commentary, is not to try to create a meta-narrative that encompasses politics and policy processes as we currently understand them. Rather, my role here is as an “UnderLabourer in clearing the ground a little, and removing some of the rubbish, that lies in the way to knowledge” (Locke, 1690/1997, p. 11). My goals are therefore modest: to characterize the educational politics and policy process research as represented in the chapters in this section and to identify a “way to knowledge” in the future. In so doing, I hope to illustrate the ways that our research can address the common educational concerns of equity, effi ciency, student learning, and educational outcomes, resulting in useful guidance for the design of effective educational policies.