Needlessto say, Head Start must help children to do well academically in school. and it will not have accomplished its mission until it establishes a better record in this are!'; than it has iii the past. But enhancing the quality otthe child's school life is impor tant too and may, in tact, be a major mediator of academic motivation and achievement It is still too early to assess the fI)ll impact of Head Start and other intervention programs on children and their I"amilies, but many "Head Start watchers" strongly suspect that tile payoff for our intervention efforts will be on competence broadly viewed-i-academic and social competence (Zigler and Trickett, 1978; Weinberg, 1979). The 1980s should be a period dur ing which we give l1igll priority to the study of the effects of Head Start on social competence and the identification of program characteristics that ulti mately lead to competence broadly conceived.