The Kids Count project is an effort to track the status of children in the United States by providing policymakers and citizens with national and state benchmarks of well-being. This multi-publication packet describes the project and several factors that increase the likelihood of children's academic success. The first of two pamphlets, the "Kids Count Data Book, 1997: Overview," presents the background for the project; identifies experiences that can contribute to children's success, including preschool experience, smaller schools, high standards, meaningful family participation, and community commitment to healthy youth and family development; and outlines what policymakers need to do to create favorable conditions. The second pamphlet, "Kids Count: A Pocket Guide on America's Youth," presents graphs of national trends for 10 indicators of well-being: (1) percent low birthweight babies; (2) infant morality rate; (3) child death rate; (4) teen violent death rate; (5) teen birth rate; (6) juvenile violent crime arrest rate; (7) dropout rate; (8) idle teen rate; (9) child poverty rate; and (10) single parent family rate. The pamphlet also presents in tabular form current state data for these and additional indicators, and provides state contacts for Kids Count projects. The remainder of the packet is comprised of nine single-page documents discussing experiences identified as contributing to children's success: (1) school readiness; (2) small schools; (3) standards; (4) family participation; (5) school-community partnerships; (6) decentralization; (7) professional development; (8) school-based accountability; and (9) innovations and experiments. Each of these sheets describes how the concept is applied in effective programs, and provides resources for further information. (KDFB)