Reported here is the external summative evaluation of the Mountain-Plains program, a residential, family-based education program developed to improve the economic potential and lifestyle of selected student families in a six-state region. (For the internal summative evaluation see CE 014 682-684.) To determine the program's success in rehabilitating its participant families, this evaluation follows a five-domain quality-of-life paradigm which includes the following domains: economic well-being; well-being in the world of work; well-being in the family as a unit; personal psychological well-being of the head-of-household and spouse; and social well-being. Chapter 1 presents the importance of the evaluation and organization of the report. Chapter 2 extensively describes the Mountain-Plains program. Chapter 3 describes the evaluation study, and the findings regarding the effectiveness of Mountain-Plains in accomplishing its goals are presented in Chapter 4. Finally, Chapter 5 presents the conclusions based on these outcome objectives: increase employment earnings; reduce income from welfare sources; increase number of weeks employed; increase occupational prestige; enhance family well-being; and enhance personal well-being. Technical materials are found in the appendix, which comprises a major portion of the document. (BM)