ABSTRACTPlanning looks to the future. It can have several different intentions and frames of reference; (a) to pursue more economical ways and means to implement courses, activities, and jobs based on accepted purposes; (b) to seek ways to increase the efficiency of an entire educational system, including all of its parts (such as a curriculum, a school, a school system, or a state); and (c) to search for, and possibly create, a new and improved future set of realities and consequences. The first two approaches are basically concerned with increasing efficiency in reaching established goals. The third is holistic in intending to both improve current efficiency and help to create a better future. This article (a) identifies and defines these three major distinct (yet related) planning modes, and (b) discusses one educational research and development effort which intends to integrate them.