This paper focuses on an analysis of the two general approaches to educational planning--the centralized top-down, approach and the localized, bottom-up, approach. After an introductory section, the second section of the papers centers on a brief discussion of the historical development of educational planning and the assumptions on which it is based. The next section analyzes some of the current forces that are promoting a reconsideration of centralized planning. The fourth section looks at some of the localized approaches and their assumptions, giving particular attention to contradictions between goals and the means normally used to carry out procedures. This section presents the concepts of participation and decentralization, the last part looks at some of the conditions that are necessary for more effective local involvement. In the fifth section, three brief illustrations of planning procedures are discussed. They are the national reform effort in Peru, the recently published educational reform statement in Zambia, and the more localized approach from Senegal. The final section focuses on the point of tension between the two approaches and suggests some of the kinds of modification that will be necessary in traditional planning concepts.