A first stage evaluation of the Even Start Program of the Newark (New Jersey) public schools is presented. Even Start is an early childhood parental involvement program in its third year of implementation. Goals are to involve parents as active partners, to help children develop cognitively and affectively, and to improve adult literacy and English fluency skills. Three survey instruments were used to measure parental involvement. A survey of attitudes and practices of parent involvement was completed by 34 participating parents and 132 non-program parents. A survey of teacher attitudes and practices was completed by 11 participating teachers and 11 non-participating teachers. Seventeen project staff completed a survey about project implementation. Findings reflect a common theme of improved collaborations and reciprocal parent/staff decision making. Both staff and parents report a better understanding of children's problems and improved communication. These preliminary findings can serve to guide program improvement efforts and district planning. Study data are presented in 28 tables. Two appendixes contain the assessment measures and the means and standard deviations for the teacher survey responses. (SLD)