This study is the eighth in a series of reports of longitudinal research on the long-term effects of participation versus nonparticipation in a program of high quality early childhood education, on 123 black youths from families of low socioeconomic status, who were at risk of failing in school. The study finds that young people up to 19 years of age who attended the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation’s Perry Preschool Program (PPP) in the early 1960s continue to outperform peers who did not attend preschool. The PPP provided an organized educational experience directed at the intellectual and social development of young children who participated, in most cases, for 2 years when they were 3 and 4 years of age. Fifty-eight children were assigned to the preschool group called the experimental group and 65 children were assigned to the no-preschool group called the control group. The Perry Preschool study addressed the issue of whether high quality early childhood education would improve the lives of low-income children and their families, and the quality of life of the community as a whole. Sections of the report concern: (1) the background and context of the Perry Preschool Study; (2) preschool’s effects on school success, early socioeconomic success, and social responsibility; (3) review and interpretation of study outcomes over time; (4) preschool’s long-term impact; (5) the lessons of early childhood research; and (6) nine case studies of children growing up in Ypsilanti, Michigan. An appendix provides information about supplementary analyses of the data. Three commentaries on the study are included. (RH)