It was in a context of unprecedented economic growth that educational planning developed in the 1960s. At the time, educational planners were entrusted with orchestrating the tremendous expansion of schooling, with the aim of both universalizing education and providing national economies with the qualified manpower needed. Such rigid mandatory planning is not suited to today's world, but other forms of planning such as policy analysis, policy dialog, labor market analysis, and strategic management are still valid. The following is a complete list of reprinted essays collected for this book.

Includes subject section, name section, and 1968-1970, technical reports.

Original blurb: "The volume of writing on educational topics has increased so prodigiously in recent years that the student is likely to lose himself in a sea of print. This may lead him to opt for the first book that comes to hand, or waste time rifling through half a dozen when a thorough grasp of one key text is all that is needed. Reading lists commonly look impressive, not to say daunting. In fact, the multifarious titles conceal an enormous amount of duplication, an endless raking over of other people’s research findings. ‘It is a safe bet’, writes W. Kenneth Richmond, ‘that less than 5 percent of the contents of any new book on education will be in any way original’." This critical bibliography, originally published in 1972, is concerned with the noteworthy books and major official reports that had appeared in the English language during the twenty-five years prior to publication. In his introduction and in the commentaries prefacing each section the author explains the background to the genuinely new departures of the period and describes successive changes in the climate of educational opinion.

The aim of the Handbook is to present readily accessible, but scholarly sources of information about educational research in the Asia-Pacific region. The scale and scope of the Handbook is such that the articles included in it provide substantive contributions to knowledge and understanding of education in the Asia region. In so doing, the articles present the problems and issues facing education in the region and the findings of research conducted within the region that contribute to the resolution of these problems and issues. Moreover, since new problems and issues are constantly arising, the articles in the Handbook also indicate the likely directions of future developments. The different articles within the Handbook seek to conceptualize the problems in each specific content area under review, provide an integration of the research conducted within that area, the theoretical basis of the research the practical implications of the research and the contribution of the research towards the resolution of the problems identified. Thus, the articles do not involve the reporting of newly conducted research, but rather require a synthesis of the research undertaken in a particular area, with reference to the research methods employed and the theoretical frameworks on which the research is based. In general, the articles do not advocate a single point of view, but rather, present alternative points of view and comment on the debate and disagreements associated with the conduct and findings of the research. Furthermore, it should be noted, that the Handbook is not concerned with research methodology, and only considers the methods employed in inquiry in so far as the particular methods of research contribute to the effective investigation of problems and issues that have arisen in the conduct and provision of education at different levels within the region.