1. Introduction -- PART 1: Origins -- 2. The Historical Context -- 3. Federal Education Dissemination Legislation and Policy -- PART II: Approaches -- 4. ERIC: The International Educational Information System -- 5. Dissemination Systems: Some Lessons From Programs of the Past -- 6. The National Diffusion Network -- 7. Teachers' Centers -- 8. A Region-Based Approach for Technical Assistance -- 9. Dissemination Programs in State Departments of Education -- 10. Interorganizational Arrangements: An Exploratory Study -- 11. One State's Experience: How Texas Put It All Together -- PART III: Issues -- 12. Analyzing the Cost of Extension Systems -- 13. Measuring Information Equity -- 14. Advances in Practice -- 15. Advances in Diffusion Theory -- 16. Educational Knowledge Utilization: 2001 -- PART IV: Case Studies -- San Mateo Educational Resources Center -- Women's Educational Equity Communications Network -- Learning: The Magazine for Creative Teaching -- Continuing Education Technical Assistance Center -- Research and Development Exchange -- Merrimack Education Center -- The Network, Inc. -- Teachers' Centers Exchange -- Technology Information for Educators

The contributors trace the development of knowledge utilization systems in education over the past 20 years. The survey begins with an historical overview of how teachers, and other educational practioners, communicate new knowledge, such as the results of research studies and experimental programmes. The articles include case studies of nine exemplary knowledge utilization programmes, a report of the first attempt to analyze differences at state-level in dissemination of policies and strategies in the USA, and give details of projections for the state of knowledge utilization systems in education by the year 2001.