ABSTRACT
The growth of programs in early education and the large-scale involvement of the schools and federal government in them is not a transitory concern. The decision of the Committee on Learning and the Educational Process of the Social Science Research Council to call a conference on early education was thus both timely and significant. The contemporary preoccupation with extra-familial "pre-school' education in the United States reveals a profound mistrust of people methods of socialization. The recognition that early education is basic socialization was evident in the comments by the participants in the Conference sessions. Although the discussions focused on education and related mental operations, the members of the group recognized that distinctions among "personality," "mental behavior," and "education" are not particularly meaningful, particularly at the early stages of development. Several psychologists were working in the areas of early education and cognitive development in disadvantaged children before it became popular in academic circles.
