First grade children from two Head Start (HS) groups and one non-Head Start (NHS) group were administered a battery of tests for the purposes of (1) comparing the developmental status of HS and NHS subjects, (2) examing patterns of specific learning disabilities among HS and NHS children, (3) determining the stability coefficients of selected instruments, and (4) analyzing the predictive capabilities and factoral structure of selected evaluative instruments. Group one, the primary Head Start sample, was composed of 54 disadvantaged children who had attended a year-long preschool program and had been tested during that time. Group two, a secondary Head Start sample, consisted of 77 disadvantaged children who had also attended a year-long program but had not had testing experience. The comparison group consisted of 78 non-Head Start disadvantaged children. Available data indicated that HS and NHS children demonstrated no significant differences in developmental characteristics in kindergarten. The comprehensive testing in the first grade showed the same trend: there were no significant differences between children having participated in HS and not having participated in HS in learning ability. The first grade data also showed that all of the subjects in this study labored under serious learning disabilities. (WD)