THE NEED TO DEFINE THE ROLE OF THE GUIDANCE SERVICES IS THE BASIS FOR THE 3-YEAR STUDY. THE MAJOR HYPOTHESIS IS THAT GUIDANCE SPECIALISTS CAN ENHANCE LEARNING MORE EFFECTIVELY THROUGH INTERVENTION IN THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT OF CHILDREN THAN THROUGH DIRECT REMEDIAL APPROACHES TO CHILDREN THEMSELVES. THE MODEL USES AN APPROACH TO GUIDANCE ACTIVITIES INVOLVING AN EMPHASIS ON PROVIDING SERVICES PRIMARILY TO TEACHERS AND PARENTS. THE BASIC RESEARCH ASPECT WILL INVOLVE THE COLLECTION OF COMPREHENSIVE DATA ON THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT FROM A WIDE SAMPLE OF THE NATIONAL SCHOOL POPULATION. THE ACTION RESEARCH WILL INVOLVE THE OPERATION OF DEMONSTRATION CENTERS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS AT EACH LEVEL. ONLY 21 SELECTED SCHOOLS WILL BE INVOLVED SO THAT IMPLEMENTATION OF THE OVERALL CONCEPTUAL MODEL WILL BE EXECUTED AS FULLY AS POSSIBLE UNDER LOCAL CIRCUMSTANCES. SELECTED GUIDANCE SPECIALISTS SERVING THESE SCHOOLS WILL BE GIVEN INTENSIVE TRAINING AT SUMMER WORKSHOPS HELD AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES. BEGINNING IN 1964 THEY WILL DEVOTE ABOUT 4 HOURS A WEEK TO CONDUCTING GROUP SESSIONS WITH PARENTS. THE NEXT YEAR, GROUP WORK WITH TEACHERS WILL BE ADDED. ASSESSMENTS OF A WIDE SPECTRUM OF VARIABLES WILL BE CONDUCTED AS SPECIFIED POINTS THROUGHOUT THE STUDY. (AO)