THIS PAPER DESCRIBES THE RESEARCH AND INSTRUCTION (R/I) UNITS WHICH WERE ORGANIZED IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN FIVE WISCONSIN CITIES TO IMPROVE STUDENT LEARNING AND TO FACILITATE SCHOOL-RELATED RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND INNOVATION. EACH UNIT IS COMPOSED OF A LEADER (TEACHER SPECIALIST), CERTIFIED TEACHERS, NONCERTIFIED AIDES, AND STUDENTS. THE NUMBER OF PERSONNEL VARIES ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS IN A GROUP. AN IMPORTANT FEATURE OF THE R/I SCHOOL IS THE INSTRUCTIONAL DECISION-MAKING COMMITTEE MADE UP OF THE PRINCIPAL AND UNIT LEADERS. WHEN TEST SCORES IN THE EXPERIMENTAL R/I UNITS WERE COMPARED WITH SCORES IN CONTROL SCHOOLS, THE R/I UNIT CHILDREN SHOWED GREATER GAINS IN SPELLING, LANGUAGE, VOCABULARY, AND ARITHMETIC. "DRAMATIC" FIELD TEST RESULTS WERE OBTAINED IN ONE SCHOOL SERVING DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN, WHERE STUDENTS HAD A GREATER THAN EXPECTED GAIN IN MEAN PERFORMANCE ON THE STANFORD ACHIEVEMENT TEST. IT IS FELT THAT THESE DATA SHOW THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO NARROW THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP BETWEEN DISADVANTAGED AND AVERAGE STUDENTS. THE PAPER ALSO DISCUSSES SUCH INNOVATIVE INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS AS INDIVIDUAL CONFERENCES, THE USE OF OLDER CHILDREN AS ARITHMETIC HELPERS, THE OFFER OF SMALL REWARDS TO STIMULATE READING. THESE R/I UNITS ARE SAID TO BE VERY HELPFUL TO THE BEGINNING TEACHER WHO BENEFITS FROM FREE PERIODS FOR PREPARATION AND FROM THE GUIDANCE OF THE UNIT LEADER. (NH)