This book analyzes the lessons that history can teach those who wish to reform the American education system. It traces the evolving role of the federal government in educational research; explores the course of early-childhood education in the 19th and 20th centuries; examines the history of the Follow Through program, which existed from 1967 to 1994 to help Head Start children make the transition into regular schools; reviews the development of the Even Start program, which works to improve the literacy of disadvantaged parents while providing early-childhood education for their children; discusses changing views of the economic benefits of education; assesses the validity and usefulness of the idea of systemic or standards-based reform; and develops a conceptual framework for mapping and analyzing education research and reform activities. The book's eight chapters are grouped into four parts: (1) "History and Policymaking"; (2) "The Federal Role in Educational Research and Statistics"; (3) "Early Childhood Education"; and (4) "Other Research and Reform Efforts." The conclusion chapter is titled "The Uses of History in Educational Policymaking." (Contains a subject index.) (WFA)