A major challenge for the next generation of policy research will be to apply the lessons of past implementation studies in building a more powerful conceptual framework and at the same time, in producing more useful information for policymakers. This article begins to build such a framework by focusing on the notion of alternative policy instruments, or the mechanisms that translate substantive policy goals into concrete actions. It examines four different types of instruments and attempts to specify key relationships among problem definition, instrument choice, organizational context, implementation, and effects.

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Opportunity to learn (OTL) is rare among the many concepts that education researchers use to depict the complexity of the schooling process. Although designed as a technical concept to ensure valid cross-national comparisons, OTL has changed how researchers, educators, and policymakers think about the determinants of student learning. This article examines the evolution of OTL from a research concept to a policy instrument. It describes OTL’s intellectual origins in the IEA studies and the role of OTL research in education indicator development. The article then outlines OTL’s emergence as a potential policy tool, and assesses its political and technical feasibility.

Among the notable aspects of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is the diverse array of interest groups supporting them. These organizations must now apply the strategies they used so effectively in advancing the Common Core to stem mounting opposition to it. This article draws on theories of political and policy learning and interviews with major participants to examine the role that CCSS supporters have played in developing and implementing the standards, supporters’ reasons for mobilizing, and the counterarguments and strategies of recently emerging opposition groups.