IN ORDER TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF A STRUCTURED PRESCHOOL ACADEMIC PROGRAM UPON THE COGNITIVE GROWTH OF CULTURALLY DEPRIVED CHILDREN, A LONGITUDINAL STUDY WAS BEGUN ON 107 FOUR-YEAR-OLDS IN CLEVELAND, OHIO. RELEVANT RESEARCH LITERATURE WAS REVIEWED IN DESIGNING THE STUDY. THE FIRST PHASE, RECOUNTED IN THIS REPORT, EXPLORED PSYCHO-LINGUISTIC, PERCEPTUAL, AND INTELLECTUAL FUNCTIONING. THE CHILDREN WERE DIVIDED INTO ONE CONTROL GROUP RECEIVING CUSTODIAL CARE AND TWO EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS, ONE WHITE AND ONE NEGRO, BOTH BELONGING TO THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHILD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. PRE- AND POSTTESTING OCCURRED AT A 10-WEEK INTERVAL, USING THE STANFORD-BINET INTELLIGENCE SCALE (S-B) AND THE ILLINOIS TEST OF PSYCHOLINGUISTIC ABILITY (ITPA). A SECONDARY RESEARCH PROJECT USED THE FROSTIG TESTS TO MEASURE 45 CHILDREN, RANDOMLY SELECTED FROM THE THREE GROUPS, WHO HAD BEEN GIVEN ADDITIONAL PERCEPTUAL TRAINING. DATA WERE ANALYZED IN TERMS OF PRESCHOOL OR NONPRESCHOOL AND BOYS OR GIRLS. RESULTS SHOWED THAT (1) S-B AND ITPA ARE MORE STABLE MEASURES THAN FROSTIG AT THIS AGE, (2) GAINS WERE GREATER IN BRIGHTER CHILDREN, (3) EXERCISE IS NEEDED IN VOCALIZING EXPERIENCE, (4) GIRLS SURPASS BOYS IN LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT, AND (5) VISUAL PERCEPTION IMPROVED AFTER USING THE FROSTIG PROGRAM. A FAIRLY EXTENSIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY IS INCLUDED. (LG)