This paper discusses the development of educational planning processes in Canada. The first of the three topics addressed is change in eight characteristics of planning between 1956 and 1986: (1) the locus of planning, (2) the vehicle for planning, (3) the educational level on which planning focused, (4) the scope of planning, (5) the time frame involved, (6) preferences for qualitative or quantitative improvement, (7) the number of participants in the process, and (8) the extent to which technological advancement has affected planning. The second topic concerns factors associated with success; it is suggested that six factors are associated with the success of planning efforts: (1) the power of the sponsor, (2) the continued presence of an important advocate, (3) the continued visibility of the planning effort itself, (4) the specificity of the course of action advocated, (5) the packaging and marketing of the plan, and (6) the timing of the plan. The third topic concerns recent insights about planning; in this final section, the paper reflects on the confluence of interest in the organizational nature of schools and in contingency planning. The extent to which goals are agreed on and technology clearly established identify planning efforts as focused on programing (that is, applying knowledge rationally), learning, bargaining, or searching. (PGD)