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A general interest in attrition, or loss of units from a study, stems in part from the observation that the infrequency of attention to attrition exacerbates problems of data interpretation. As a substudy of the national evaluation of Project Follow Through, the potential biasing effects of attrition of subjects from the sites were investigated. Policy attrition, the administrative dropping of a unit; program attrition, loss of subjects due to mobility, dislike of the treatment, etc.; and sample attrition, units omitted because of deficient data, have been defined, but were not distinguished in this research. The relationship between attrition, pretest score, and income level were studied. In the few cases where additional variance was accounted for by the interaction of pretest or income with treatment within-site, an interpretation of the possible biasing effects of attrition was made in the evaluation of the specific site. It is suggested that in cases where differential attrition is found, the offending variable be considered for use as a covariate. (BW)

Follow Through is a longitudinal program instituted by the U.S. Office of Education in which a variety of curriculum models have been implemented in a number of locations nationwide. Because services are provided from kindergarten through third grade, many children enter and leave the program at points not coterminous with the treatment itself. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of attrition on the national Follow Through evaluation. Relationships between child characteristics such as ethnicity, sex, family income, and mother's education and attrition group membership were investigated to determine whether the findings of the major analysis should be qualified. (Author)

This segment of the national evaluation study of the Follow Through Planned Variation Model discusses findings of analyses of achievement test data which have been adjusted to take into consideration the preschool experience of children in three Follow Through cohorts. These analyses serve as a supplement to analyses presented in Volume IV-A of the study which did not incorporate preschool experience as a factor. Included are: (1) overview of findings of supplementary analyses; (2) review of models under study and instruments used; (3) presentation of samples under study and comparison of these samples with those in Volume IV-A; and (4) review and discussion of analytic strategies implemented for supplementary analyses. An argument is made for basing the conclusions of the national study on results derived solely from Cohort III-K (the group of children who started Follow Through at kindergarten level in 1971). Three sets of results are compared: those from Cohort III-K only, controlling for preschool differences; those from all cohort streams, controlling for preschool differences only for Cohort III-K; and those from all cohort streams, controlling for preschool differences. Appendices comprise more than 450 pages. (Author/JMB)

This paper summarizes a report on a search for potential new educational approaches and assesses the readiness of these approaches to be implemented within Follow Through (FT) programs. Evaluation of potential FT sponsoring agencies focused on program implementation and maintenance, rather than on effectiveness in improving student outcomes. Three types of approaches were studied: home-based, special populations, and school-based. Eighteen potential sponsors were selected for in-depth study. They represented three basic approaches to education: behaviorist, cognitive developmental, and psychodynamic. Agencies were evaluated in terms of program base, targeted special populations, number of years in operation, targeted age/grade groups, institutional type, and validation by the Joint Dissemination Review Panel of the Educational Division of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Readiness of potential sponsors to implement FT programs was assessed through studies of programs currently being sponsored by the agencies. Abstracts of current programs are included. (MK)

The original plans for the Follow Through (FT) program were to provide a program extending the Head Start community action model to the public schools which would serve all disadvantaged children. Because of the small budget allocation authorized by the Congress, the United States Office of Education reformulated FT as an experimental program of "planned variation" that was to introduce systematically a variety of educational approaches into kindergarten through third grade. The experiment was to determine the relative efficacy of each approach. Presently, FT is in a period of transition as it clarifies its future focus. This study consists of a search for potential new approaches and an assessment of the readiness of these approaches to be implemented within the FT program. This first part of a two-part report contains the methods used in identifying essential program characteristics, the characteristics themselves, the methods used to identify potential new sponsors, a summary of the potential sponsor's approaches, and a global assessment of their readiness for implementation. (Author/MK)