TWO PILOT STUDIES OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENT CHARACTERISTICS AND THE READING ACHIEVEMENT OF THEIR CHILDREN ARE REPORTED. THE FIRST STUDY COMPARED THE BEHAVIOR OF MOTHERS OF HIGH AND LOW VERBAL GIRLS IN TWO SEMISTRUCTURED INTERACTION SITUATIONS. TEN HIGH VERBAL AND 10 LOW VERBAL GIRLS WERE SELECTED FOR STUDY ON THE BASIS OF SCORES ON THE GATES READING SURVEY AND ON THE LORGE-THORNDIKE INTELLIGENCE TEST. ONE-TAILED T TESTS WERE USED TO ANALYZE THE DATA. MOTHERS OF HIGH VERBAL GIRLS EXHIBITED MORE POSITIVE SCORES ON SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL REACTIONS AND TOTAL WARMTH. THE PURPOSES OF THE SECOND STUDY WERE TO SHOW THE EFFECT OF A PARENT TRAINING PROGRAM ON SILENT AND ORAL READING AND TO CORRELATE MOTHERS' ATTITUDES WITH SILENT AND ORAL READING. SUBJECTS WERE 13 EXPERIMENTAL AND 16 CONTROL STUDENTS IN GRADES 3 TO 6. PUPIL PRE- AND POST-MEASURES WERE THE CALIFORNIA TEST AND THE GILMORE ORAL READING TEST. THE PARENT MEASURE WAS THE PARENTAL ATTITUDE RESEARCH INSTRUMENT. FOURTEEN WEEKLY SESSIONS WERE HELD WITH EXPERIMENTAL PARENTS. MEAN SCORES, DIFFERENCE SCORES, AND T TESTS WERE USED TO ANALYZE THE DATA. THE TREATMENT HAD A GREATER EFFECT ON ORAL THAN ON SILENT READING. POSITIVE ATTITUDES TOWARD CHILD REARING CORRELATED SIGNIFICANTLY WITH SILENT READING COMPREHENSION. A DESCRIPTION OF THE PARENT TRAINING PROGRAM, THREE APPENDIXES, AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE INCLUDED. (BK)