Between July 1973 and March 1974 workers in the Children's Fund Survey on Nonenrollment knocked on more than 8,500 doors in 30 areas in nine states--Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and South Carolina--and in the District of Columbia, and talked to over 6,500 families. Areas were chosen to represent different kinds of school-age populations by race, income, ethnicity, and geographic location. Hundreds of school officials, teachers, and community leaders concerned with education were also interviewed. In the 30 areas surveyed, 5.4 percent of all children 6 to 17 years old were found out of school for at least 45 days, one-quarter of the school year; 19.6 percent of the 16 and 17 year olds were found out of school. As with the census data, however, the overall average understates the severity of the problem for certain groups of children in specific places. Chapter 1 outlines the variety of children who are excluded by schools. Chapter 2 presents data on children out of school: the first section is the authors' calculations of 1970 census data, the second section reports the findings of the authors' survey on nonenrollment. Chapter 3, Barriers to Attendance, Chapter 4, Children with Special Needs, and Chapter 5, School Discipline, examine some of the major areas of school policy and practice which exclude children from school. (Author/JM)