A demand for more and better education has driven educators to seek the help of systems analysis in the process of decision making. Basic to the entire systems notion is the concept of a model, a simplified but controllable version of the real world. The systems approach, once the problem is defined, is to specify the subfunctions and alternatives, build them into a total system which can be evaluated and compared in terms of basic objectives. Any one of a variety of methods can be used to organize data into a model. A number of problems may be dealt with by systems analysis: staffing, scheduling, transportation, and even certain social problems. A number of systems studies have already been used to solve educational problems in the United States and abroad. The University of Toronto, The University of California, and Case Western Reserve University are using a systems approach to problems related to the university environment. Close-up or micro studies of events taking place in the classrooms of individual schools have led to some attempts, notably those of the Systems Development Corporation (SDC), to use a systems approach to solve problems in the elementary and secondary schools. In the future, systems analysis will have an even greater impact in the field of human planning. (JY)