Article Research Use in School District Central Office Decision Making: A Case Study Elizabeth N. Farley-Ripple Abstract The current educational policy climate in the USA places immense pressure on school district central offices to use evidence to inform their decisions in order to improve student learning. In light of both the expectations of evidence-based decision making and the significance of central offices in supporting teaching and learning, there is considerably little understanding of whether, how and why central office decision makers use research evidence to support educational decisions. Through an embedded case study of Hamilton School District and three central office decisions, this research examines the role of research in central office decisions, focusing on how research is used, what research resources are used and the factors that influence use. Evidence of limited instrumental and political uses of research in comparison to conceptual and symbolic use, preferences for practitioner-oriented resources, and the importance of research attributes, organizational context and culture, and decision-maker characteristics are presented. Findings sug- gest a need for strategies to improve instrumental use, including reconsidering the production and dissemination of research, facilitating the flow of knowledge within the central office, and further examination of conceptual uses of research. Keywords central office, evidence-based decision-making, research use, school districts Introduction Significant research has established the importance of school district central offices in supporting and engendering change in education (Corcoran et al., 2001; Datnow and Castellano, 2003; Elmore and Burney 1997; Honig et al., 2009, 2010; McLaughlin and Talbert, 2003; Marsh et al., 2005; Massell, 2000; Supovitz, 2006) and in supporting student achievement (see MacIver and Farley-Ripple [2008] for a review). As a result of its relationship to teaching and learning, the Corresponding author: Elizabeth N. Farley-Ripple, Willard Hall, School of Education, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA Email: enfr@udel.edu Educational Management Administration & Leadership 40(6) 786–806 ª The Author(s) 2012 Reprints and permission: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1741143212456912 emal.sagepub.com