This document presents an introduction to the aims, methods, and activities of the Educational Policy Research Center at Syracuse which was established in 1968 under Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The essential purpose of the Center is to contribute to the development of a capability for assessing educational policy choices within the context of alternative long-range futures. The introductory section of this progress report summarizes the scope of the Center and presents an analysis of the "futures-perspective" approach (an approach which moves backward from future to present, which enables invention as well as projection of alternative futures, and which is distinct from "Utopianism" in that it demands that any vision of the future must include a detailed account of how we could get from here to there). The second section discusses some of the research methods and tools being developed by the Center in relation to its task (the Delphi Method, Cross-Impact Matrix, Simulation-Gaming, etc.). The third section illustrates the Center's approach to future-oriented research by describing and analyzing the possible implications of two of many research efforts currently under way (one dealing with Federal policy for the support of post-secondary education, the other aimed at developing alternative futures for elementary and secondary institutions and for policies directed toward changes in their governance, goals, and methods and content of instruction). (JES)