The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory presents a primer for making educational decisions more systematic, containing a collection of (1) prescriptive guides for clarifying problems and objectives, (2) suggestions for identifying possible solutions, (3) criteria for judging solutions, (4) methods for measuring values, and (5) strategies for combining these elements to reach a decision. An annotated bibliography of nine sources from 1953 to 1981 is included. The appendices discuss alternatives to decision analysis procedures and the measurement of costs. (PN)