Why have the results of the Follow Through evaluation failed to
impact the policies and practices of the educational community?
Why have the most effective approaches for educating children
not been widely disseminated? Why has the knowledge gained from
the Follow Through evaluation not been used to reform education
in America? The answers to these questions may be found in part
by looking at how instruction is viewed by the various elements
of the educational Follow Through provides an opportunity for
such an analysis because it revealed how the educational
industry collectively conceived of, planned, conducted, and
interpreted a large scale educational experiment. When I was in
graduate school, I wrote a lengthy paper in which I traced the
history of Project Follow Through, looked at its implications
for education, and analyzed the contingencies that determine
educational practices. This article is condensed from the paper,
which will be published this fall by the Cambridge Center for
Behavioral Studies. I