Children in Columbus, Ohio public schools participated in two nontraditional kindergarten programs during the 1986-1987 school year. Evaluations of the programs were undertaken to determine their success. One program involved a full day kindergarten that featured opportunities for increased personal and social development, as well as instruction in art, music, physical education, and other curriculum areas. The second program involved interactive experiences with microcomputers and the Writing to Read (WTR) program which were intended to develop reading and writing skills. For evaluation purposes, children were divided into four groups: a control half-day kindergarten group, a full-day group, a half-day WTR group, and a group participating in WTR on a full day basis. Language and reading achievement were determined by pretest and posttest scores on the Metropolitan Achievement Test, and social adjustment was evaluated on the basis of teacher-assigned grades. Evaluation findings indicated higher achievement for students in the full-day kindergarten and WTR programs, and better adjustment to school in the WTR classrooms. Students in the half-day kindergartens showed better adjustment skills associated with personal and social growth than did students in the full-day kindergartens. Appendixes include a writing sample prompt, a list of criteria for rating writing samples, and a sample progress report form. (SKC)