DESCRIPTIONS OF PHYSICAL FACILITIES, A VERBAL AND NON-VERBAL INTERACTION ANALYSIS MEASURED ON A (1) TASK-ORIENTING, (2) MAINTAINING SOCIAL ORDER, AND (3) FACILITATING SCALE, TEACHER INTERVIEWS, AND OBSERVER VERBAL REPORTS ASSESS A SELECTED SAMPLE OF CLASSROOMS WITHIN THE 1965 CAMBRIDGE SUMMER HEAD START PROGRAM. PERFORMANCE OF HEAD START AND NON-HEAD START PUPILS ENROLLED IN PUBLIC SCHOOL KINDERGARTENS THE FOLLOWING FALL IS COMPARED AND ANALYSED IN TERMS OF NORMS, EXPECTATIONS, AND LIMITS OF THE CLASSROOM, I.E. IN TERMS OF "THE CLASSROOM GAME." PUPIL BEHAVIOR IS CODED AS "WITH IT" OR "NOT WITH IT." OTHER COMPARATIVE PROCEDURES ARE TEACHER INTERVIEWS, TEACHER RATINGS OF CHILDREN, AND A READING READINESS TEST. INTERPRETATION OF THE DATA CHARACTERIZES THE SUMMER HEAD START PROGRAM AS LARGELY A SOCIAL LEARNING PERIOD WITH LITTLE ATTENTION TO COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT. ACTIVITIES WERE JUDGED AS NOT CAREFULLY PLANNED, NOT DIFFERENTIATING NEEDS, AND NOT GOAL ORIENTED. A MAJORITY OF TEACHERS INDICATED THE PRIMARY ADVANTAGE OF THE PROGRAM TO BE IN TERMS OF HELPING CHILDREN MEET THE EXPECTATIONS AND DEMANDS OF THE FORMAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. NEITHER THE READINESS TEST NOR "GAME" ANALYSIS SHOW A SIGNIFICANT STATISTICAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GROUPS. TEACHERS PERCEIVED THE BEHAVIOR OF HEAD START AND NON-HEAD START CHILDREN TO BE ESSENTIALLY SIMILAR. THE INITIAL BEHAVIOR OF THE HEAD START CHILDREN TENDED TO BE MORE ACTIVE AND EXPLORATORY. (BH)