The following findings are presented in this second evaluation of Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981: (1) the achievement of disadvantaged students has improved since 1965, relative to the general population; (2) Chapter 1 students experience greater increases in achievement test scores than others; (3) students in Chapter 1 mathematics programs gain more than those in Chapter 1 reading programs; (4) students in early-elementary Chapter 1 programs gain more than those in later-grade programs; (5) evidence of program effects on student attitudes toward school is inconclusive; (6) the relationship between program costs and effects on achievement scores is unclear; (7) the achievement gap between disadvantaged and advantaged students widens during summer; (8) Title I summer programs, not academically rigorous, have not narrowed this gap; (9) students who discontinue Title I lose gains they made when receiving services; (10) Chapter 1 students with very low achievement scores maintain their relative academic positions but do not advance; (11) long-term effects of Chapter 1 programs on graduation rates, future education, or adult literacy are unknown; (12) attempts to identify particular project characteristics that improve student achievement test scores have been ineffective; (13) instructional practices likely to be effective in Chapter 1 programs have been recently identified. Appendices contain the statute requiring the assessment; an administrative status report; studies, data sources, and measures used in the report; achievement expressed in normal curve equivalents; and sample sizes for figures and tables. (Author/LHW)