This paper reviews the wide variety of approaches and issues in research relating to the education of the disadvantaged in the decade of the sixties. Relevant works are designated in two categories: (1) the study of population characteristics and, (2) the description and evaluation of programs and practices. Studies within the former area are further categorized as investigations of performance and of life conditions. In the area of programs and practices, the focus of newer research is considered as emphasizing the role of the educational experience in producing the observed dysfunctions in performance. Research in the area of population characteristics is held to be rather well-designed and detailed. In contrast, the description and evaluation of educational programs and practices for the disadvantaged are considered generally superficial. A bibliography relating to works reviewed in the paper is appended. (RJ)