This manual provides a step by step guide, delineating the process by which an external agency can work with State Education Agencies (SEAs) to help increase the participation of ethnic minorities and women in educational research and development and management. Based on a model program designed and implemented by Research for Better Schools (RBS), the manual recommends specific practices for developing leadership skills in these target groups. The program is organized into three stages, parallel to the manual's three major chapters. Stage one provides the initiating agency with a mechanism for establishing positive working relationships with the State, as well as for determining specific needs to be addressed by the project. Stage two describes procedures and activities necessary for creating awareness, training, and providing technical assistance. Effective follow up tactics are also addressed in this stage. Finally, methods to be used by an initiator to ensure an ongoing program autonomous of the initiating agency are addressed in the third stage. Extensive appendices to the volume include journal articles, correspondence, and needs assessment and other technical assistance materials. (AOS)