The possibility of using instructional television (ITV) as the core component in an instructional system designed to meet the special needs of the educationally disadvantaged children of migrant farm workers, of American Indians, and of the inner-city poor was appraised. The educational problems of each of these three groups were assessed and differentiated from the problems of educationally disadvantaged children in general. After a survey of the use of ITV systems to meet similar needs in other countries, the ITV systems used in Australia, Israel, Japan, and New Zealand were chosen for in-depth study. The ways in which these systems deal with such problems as introducing the core television approach, overcoming resistance to ITV, the effect of the student-to-system relationship on the learning process, reducing the consequences of sporadic school attendance, upgrading the skills of teachers, and teaching basic skills in language and mathematics were studied in detail. When the experiences of these ITV systems were used to evaluate ITV in terms of the particular needs of each of the three target groups, it was found that the use of ITV to present a core curriculum would be an effective means of accomplishing significant reforms only in the education of American Indian children. A special analysis was also made of the potential role of ITV in junior and community colleges. (JY)