The effects of compensatory education programs in the United States during the past 20 years are discussed. The author believes the programs have had the least impact on scholastic achievement and intelligence quotient (IQ). The theoretical view of human intelligence and prevailing views of psychologists and educators of the 1960's regarding the nature of intelligence are believed to be incorrect. These views were the basis for the design and expectations of the compensatory education programs instituted 20 years ago. The error in the theory was that the disadvantage with which certain groups of children entered school was a deficiency in knowledge. Cultural differences in knowledge base have since been proven not to be the cause of lower scholastic achievement or IQ. Elementary cognitive processes and meta-processes should be considered in the design of compensatory education. Information processing deficits, rather than cultural differences in knowledge base, are considered by the author to be the major factors in poor scholastic achievement and IQ. (DWH)