There are wide variations in educational attainment and literacy rates across the regions and social classes of India. A national project examined participation in and the quality of elementary education in nine states of India, focusing on rural areas and the situation of disadvantaged persons, especially girls and the scheduled castes and tribes. Data from the census and national surveys were complemented by household surveys conducted in 95 villages chosen to highlight contrasts in features of interest. The surveys covered family structure and socioeconomic characteristics, attitudes toward education for boys and girls, reasons for non-enrollment and dropout, household educational expenditures, proximity to and condition of school facilities, teacher characteristics, and state educational expenditures. The 10 chapters are: (1) "Introduction" (A. Vaidyanathan, P. R. Gopinathan Nair); (2) "Access to Primary Education: Rural Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh" (Sarthi Acharya); (3) "Education of Rural Children in UP Himalayas" (Anuradha Pande); (4) "Poverty, Gender and Schooling: A Study of Two Districts in Andhra Pradesh" (N. Krishnaji); (5) "Dynamics of Educational Development: A Case Study of Selected 'Backward' Villages in Kerala" (Joseph A. Thomas); (6) "Demand for and Access to Schooling in Tamil Nadu" (Malathy Duraisamy); (7) "Access to Basic Education in Rural Uttar Pradesh" (Ravi Srivastava); (8) "Educational Opportunities in Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu: Despair and Hope" (Manabi Majumdar); (9) "Education of Marginalised Social Groups in Bihar" (M. K. Jabbi, C. Rajyalakshmi); (10) "Social Diversity and Regional Disparities in Schooling: A Study of Rural Rajasthan" (Geetha B. Nambissan); and (11) "Inequality of Access to Elementary Education in Orissa: An Inter- and Intra-spatial Analysis" (Sailabala Debi). (Contains references in each chapter, 226 data tables, an index, and author profiles). (SV)