A 2-phase project has been undertaken to develop a research and development planning system which consists of (1) a systematic procedure to formulate research projects, and (2) a systematic procedure to guide the selection of a subset of projects. Phase 1 of the project involves the development of a meta model which is based on a modular concept and assists in building models of educational systems. Information gathering projects are needed to load the model, and a project selection model is proposed which helps select a subset of projects designed to maximize available resources. Phase 2 of the project deals with field-testing the procedures in order to determine their generalizability. The Center for Occupational Education at the North Carolina State University will serve as the testing site, and the following activities are planned: (1) Performance criteria of the Center in terms of its mission, goals, and objectives will be delimited, (2) A specific approach for generating projects in accordance with the goals will be developed, and (3) The project selection procedure will be exemplified with illustrations. (SB)