The monograph grew out of the Critical Issues Conference sponsored by the Ontario Council for Leadership in Educational Administration (OCLEA). At the one-day conference, 57 researchers and practitioners discussed the ten major areas of research and development needs. These areas, identified in advance of the conference, were leadership and administrator development, the organization, staff development, curriculum/instruction, philosophy/objectives, community education, financing of education, labor relations, evaluation, and sociological and environmental factors. The problems in these areas and the questions asked by the researchers in an attempt to state the research issues growing out of the problems are presented. After the meeting, the attendees were polled to determine the most important issues. The four most important areas were determined to be leadership and administrator development, the organization, evaluation, and curriculum/instruction. (Author/IRT)