Programmatic instructional development refers to sequenced and coordinated efforts to produce effective instructional programs which cumulate over time and which attain outcomes that would be impossible under non-programmatic projects. As practiced at the Southwest Regional Laboratory (SWRL), it involves the combined efforts of specialists from such fields as education, the social and behavioral sciences, and the information sciences. SWRL has consistently defined an instructional product as "organized methods and materials which accomplish specified instructional outcomes under natural conditions." An instructional product becomes an instructional program with the addition of the human resources support system and the instructional management system required to effect instructional improvement. The staff at SWRL recognizes that the program one is currently producing is always third best; the second best is the one you are working on, but is not yet deliverable, and the first best reflects ideas that are bright and promising for the future. Programmatic instructional development, coupled with the required continuous direct allocation of personnel and financial resources, results in a high degree of replicability and an actual attainment of reliable increments in the instructional effectiveness of a given program. (JY)