This longitudinal study evaluated the effects of a preschool project designed to serve children between 3 and 5 years of age in a disadvantaged inner-city area in Dublin, Ireland. The preschool, established in 1969, emphasized the development of children's cognitive skills and established structures to increase parents' involvement in their children's formal education. Using an experimental group of 83 students who had attended the preschool and a control group of 53 students who had not attended the preschool, the study examined children's later educational careers, first experiences with work, leisure activities, and social deviance during adolescence. Most data were obtained when subjects were 16 years old. No significant differences between the groups in regard to placement in special education, absenteeism and truancy from school, and the incidence of behavior problems in school were found. No difference between the groups in work experience at the age of 16 was found, nor did the groups differ greatly in their leisure activities. However, members of the experimental group stayed longer in school than members of the control group, and a greater proportion of the experimental group than the control group took public examinations. Findings generally indicated that while the early performance of the experimental group was promising, the initial level of performance was not maintained. (MM)