The recent drive of world educational development has sought to extend to non-Western peoples the benefits of schooling, as conceptualized in Western thought, without reference to the influence of cultural factors. The wholesale spread of Western schooling has caused new problems, especially for women. This paper: (1) presents the methodological problems, confounding factors, and dilemmas inherent in efforts such as assessing the effects of modern education, (2) presents the additional paradoxes and problems in determining how women, in particular, are affected by modern education, since women, as a group, are often omitted from education programs and/or adversely affected by them, (3) provides a framework and set of criteria for evaluating whether or not modern education is enhancing the development of human potential in a particular country, and (4) presents case studies of women in different cultural settings and, using the established framework, examines how modern education affects their lives. A final section draws conclusions about the potential costs of modern education to both industrialized and developing countries. A seven-page list of project research papers concludes the documents. (IS)