This manual is designed to assist school board members, administrators, and teachers in the tasks of assessing present educational organizations and developing new ones. Each chapter in the manual has two major sections, the first containing a general discussion of the chapter topic and the second containing detailed guidelines which suggest specific courses of action for those who accept the principles of the chapter and wish to put them into practice in a school system. A model for effective planning and decision making is developed in the first chapter and is demonstrated in chapters 3 and 4, which deal with school system organization and personnel administration. The second chapter focuses on the roles of the school board and school administrators in the decision-making process. Chapters 5 through 10 are concerned with management of the support services of school systems and include guidelines for efficient financial management, plant management and development, pupil transportation, purchasing, and data processing. The final chapter illustrates principles for effectively linking the school system with its social environment. (JH)