The Follow Through program epitomizes many of the successes and failures of federally funded compensatory education. The program, designed to "follow through" in grades kindergarten through three on the documented gains of disadvantaged children graduating from Head Start, emerged as a planned variation experiment that systematically compared pupils enrolled in a variety of programs based on innovative educational models. The purpose was to find the best methods for educating poor and minority students. An evaluation of the Follow Through program showed that it was not as successful as was hoped: the various dynamics operating within the individual classrooms and schools influenced children's achievement more than any one educational approach or set of materials. However, some of the Follow Through models and similar programs for low-income children have produced results in a number of individual sites across the country. The characteristics of these successful models include outstanding leadership on the part of administrators, the ability to identify failure of past experiences and recognize the need for changing the model, the careful use of research and evaluation of elements of the instructional model, systematic teacher inservice training, and strong community support and political advocacy. (HTH)