The rise during the 1950s of a discourse centred on development, together with the elaboration of the concept of human capital, led to an altogether new paradigm of economic modernisation. The expansion of education and professional training was now viewed as a key strategy for those countries wishing to join the developed world. As a result, educational systems, especially in the more "backward" countries, began to pursue objectives of a decidedly economic and social nature. The different theories of development were all in agreement that one of the most important tools for achieving these objectives, and one that would have a profound influence in the realm of education, was the implementation of planning policies. The goal of this article is to approach the history of the relationship between development, education, and planning in Latin America between 1950 and 1970. After the Second World War, Latin America provided especially fertile ground for innovating and experimenting with a great variety of development strategies. We pay special attention to what was known as "integral planning of education", a technique which later would spread, through the mediation of "experts", from the periphery towards the centre, in other parts of the world. As a case study, we analyse the way in which the discourse on planning of education that emanated from Latin America at the end of the 1950s was the determining factor in the gestation of educational reform in Spain, which culminated with the General Law of Education of 1970.