BEGINNING WITH A REVIEW OF THE NURSERY SCHOOL MOVEMENT (FROEBEL, MONTESSORI, AND MCMILLAN,) THIS EVALUATION RELATES THE HISTORICAL MATERIAL TO HEAD START, SPECIFICALLY IN CAMBRIDGE MASS. DURING THE SUMMER OF 1965, MATCHED GROUPS OF 33 HEAD START CHILDREN AND 33 NON-HEAD START CHILDREN (CONTROL GROUP) WERE STUDIED. SCHOOL PRE-REGISTRATION LISTS PROVIDED NAMES AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC INFORMATION FOR BOTH THE HEAD START CHILDREN AND THE CONTROL GROUP CHILDREN. BOTH GROUPS WERE TESTED DURING THE TWO WEEKS BETWEEN THE CLOSE OF HEAD START SESSIONS AND THE FIRST DAY OF PUBLIC SCHOOL. SCORES ON MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTS WERE ANALYZED ON THE BASIS OF (1) SEX, (2) MOTHER'S EDUCATIONAL LEVEL, AND (3) FAMILY INCOME LEVEL. THE MEASURE OF LEARNING RATE AS DETERMINED BY THE SEGUIN FORM BOARD WAS THE MOST CONSISTENT IN SHOWING DIFFERENCES RESULTING FROM HEAD START INTERVENTION. THE CHIEF DIFFERENCE SEEMS TO BE THAT HEAD START EXPERIENCE AIDED A CHILD IN ATTACKING LEARNING TASKS. FOLLOW-UP RESEARCH IS NEEDED INTO HEALTH, SOCIAL CASE WORK, EFFECTS ON FORMAL SCHOOLING, AND EVALUATION AND REFINEMENT OF THE PROGRAM. (LG)