The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on compensatory education emphasizing those studies which have examined the efficacy of compensatory education programs for the disadvantaged. The overall research purpose may be broken down as an attempt to answer the following questions:
(1) Based on the existing literature on compensatory education programs, how successful have these programs been in improving Black and poor children's reading achievement?
(2) Based on the existing literature on compensatory education programs, how successful have these programs been in improving Black and poor children's math achievement?
(3) Based on the existing literature on compensatory education programs, how successful have these programs been in improving Black and poor children's self-esteem levels?
(4) Based on the existing literature on compensatory education programs, how successful have these programs been in improving Black and poor children's decisions to remain in school until high school graduation?
(5) Based on the conducted analysis, what changes might be made in programs in order to improve their success rates for teaching reading to Black and poor children?
(6) Based on the conducted analysis, what changes might be made in programs in order to improve their success rates for teaching math to Black and poor children?
(7) Based on the conducted analysis, what changes might be made in programs in order to improve their success rates for elevating the self-esteem levels of Black and poor children?
(8) Based on the conducted analysis, what changes might be made in programs in order to improve their success rates for convincing Black and poor children to remain in school until high school graduation?
In an effort to answer these questions, the review will examine several evaluative studies of compensatory education, emphasizing those studies which measured student retention, self-esteem, and reading an...