AbstractAnalysts and researchers typically value knowledge for its contributions to the wisdom of policy action. Policymakers, however, typically value knowledge for its contributions to the exercise of political control. Our research on flows of knowledge among federal, state, and local education agencies documents how knowledge may increase the effectiveness of various control strategies. In these cases, knowledge is not intended to enhance rationality; it may or may not. It is intended to enhance control, and it does. Knowledge for control is particularly useful to policymakers who seek to intervene in policy arenas characterized by fragmented authority and widely dispersed resources.