An overview of compensatory education programs is presented in this paper. The rationale for compensatory education is outlined, and the early implementation of these projects at the local and national levels is described. Specifically addressed are Project Head Start and Title I programs. The paper also discusses James Coleman's "Equality of Educational Opportunity Survey" and reviews the major studies of compensatory education conducted at both national and local levels from 1965 through 1980. It is proposed that a review of the more scientifically promising evaluations of compensatory education can yield insight into the potential to redress racial differences through academic achievement. Such a review, it is said, might also reveal the most productive means of increasing the effectiveness of the public schools for underachieving black pupils. The paper itself is abstracted from a larger work by the authors titled "Race and Education: The Unending Controversy." (Author/APM)