A longitudinal research project was initiated in the spring of 1988 in Ankara, Turkey in selected gecekondu settlements. A gecekondu is a hastily constructed dwelling used to house newcomers to large cities. Gecekondu dwellers are predominantly disadvantaged, rural people who have migrated to the fringes of urban areas and whose children usually fail during the first 3 years of school. The research project was designed to implement an ecological early childhood educational model with groups of pregnant mothers and mothers of newborn infants. Previous research had identified reasons teachers and mothers gave for the underachievement of gecekondu children. In order to break the poverty cycle in gecekondus, provision of preschool education was proposed. Bronfenbrenner's (1974) ecological model of early childhood education seemed most suitable for the gecekondu. Sequential stages of the model involve: (1) provision of adequate housing and economic security before children are born; (2) preparation for parenthood by means of information about child care, nutrition, and health care; (3) facilitation of reciprocal interaction in child-parent relationships in day care centers for children 1-3 years old; (4) exposure of children of 4-6 years to a cognitively oriented preschool program and continuing parental intervention; and (5) assurance of parental support of children's educational activities during elementary school. (RH)