In this volume the April, 1978 Instructional Dimensions Study Conference is reported. The conference focused on four areas of compensatory education: (1) opportunity to learn; (2) instructional setting; (3) planning, organization, and management; and (4) individualized instruction. An overview of the proceedings outlines and briefly discusses each of these areas. Individual papers address particular issues in each of the four areas. Papers by Gaea Leinhart and Herbert Zimiles deal respectively with the concept of educational opportunity at the classroom level and with the "engagedness" of children in the classroom. Each reviews pertinent literature on the subject of educational opportunity. G. Charlotte Kennedy analyzes teacher reported dimensions of compensatory education instructional environments in terms of "mainstream" and "pullout" settings. Roger W. Shuy argues that educational researchers have made little progress in assessing the effect of setting on education. Morton Botel describes different aspects of planning, organization, and management of selected reading programs. Finally, both Marianne Amarel and Jane A. Stallings argue that individualized instruction can be effective. (EB)