At their summit meeting in February, 1990, the President of the United States and the National Governors' Association established the national education goal that "all children will start school ready to learn" by the year 2000. The process of reaching this goal will require a twofold strategy. First, families will need help in their efforts to prepare their children for success at school. Second, schools will need help in responding effectively to the wide range of developmental levels, backgrounds, experiences, and needs which children present. Families who are preparing students for school will need to take into consideration children's social and intellect readiness. School can be ready for children by using an appropriate curriculum, appropriate staffing, and, in the absence of reliable readiness tests, flexible programming that takes into account individual differences among students at the time of school entry. Such programming can include mixed-age grouping and cooperative learning. (RH)