The basic thesis of this paper is that change in educational policy is brought about mainly by the impact of external events in the larger society, and that discontinuities in educational policy are likely to increase as the pace of socioeconomic change accelerates over the next two decades. The authors contend that educational policy based merely on modifications -- extrapolations or refinements -- of existing programs will prove totally inadequate to meet the challenge. The paper describes those educational trends and broader societal patterns which seem likely to emerge and have profound implications for the assumptions and direction of education. It concludes with several possible initiatives that planners in the U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare could undertake to prepare the groundwork for realistic educational assumptions and programs. (Author/DN)