This book provides a reflective and historically situated analysis of the Kenyan Primary School Management Project (PRISM). This is carried out in the light of a broader international review of the theoretical and methodological literature relating to the role, and potential, of research and evaluation in the process of educational development. The case study of PRISM pays particular attention to the part played by collaborative and participatory research and evaluation in project development and implementation. The book is designed to be read on two main levels. Firstly, it provides a detailed, critical and empirically informed record of the Kenyan PRISM initiative. Secondly, the broader analysis explores implications for changing modalities of international development co-operation; for research and evaluation capacity building; for methodological and theoretical dimensions of development processes; and for the importance of comparative insights in understanding the processes and dilemmas of the international transfer of theories, policies and practices.