This essay serves as an introduction to a group of papers addressing different issues involved in developing a suitable definition of educational adequacy. After characterizing the congressional mandate underlying this series of reports, identifying the fields represented by the reports' authors, and describing the specific questions these authorities were asked to address, the writer of this essay comments on the content of the papers. Noting that the disparity of approaches, conclusions, and recommendations represented would permit only limited generalization, he asserts that the compilation's major importance lies in its being "the first concerted effort of any agency to initiate a literature in [the area of educational adequacy,] where there was virtually none." Previous papers on educational adequacy have concentrated on costing schemes rather than on the broader issues treated in these documents. The author then considers a crucial difficulty in defining educational adequacy--the fact that in our well-educated society different individuals and groups demand different standards of education. According to the author, the resulting trend toward pluralism in education challenges the government to define its role in the achievement of educational adequacy soon. The essay concludes with an abstract of a study (not included in the document), to establish a definition of educational adequacy (McCarthy and Deignan). (Author/PGD)