REVIEWED ARE SOME OF THE APPROACHES WHICH HAVE BEEN USED TO IMPROVE THE EDUCATIONAL STATUS OF DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS. IT IS FELT THAT THE COMPENSATORY EDUCATION EFFORTS HAVE NOT SUCCEEDED BECAUSE MOST PROJECTS HAVE EITHER UTILIZED TRADITIONAL CONTENT AND TEACHING METHODS OR HAVE BEEN REMEDIAL. ALSO, THEY DO NOT START BY RAISING THE DISADVANTAGED STUDENT'S SELF-IMAGE AND, CONSEQUENTLY, HIS MOTIVATION. CURRENTLY, THE STRESS HAS SHIFTED TO INSTRUCTIONAL INNOVATION, WHICH CAN MORE READILY BE TRIED IN GHETTO THAN IN MIDDLE-CLASS SCHOOLS BECAUSE NOTHING ELSE HAS PROVED EFFECTIVE IN EDUCATING THE DISADVANTAGED AND BECAUSE COLLEGE-CONSCIOUS MIDDLE-CLASS PARENTS ARE APPREHENSIVE ABOUT EXPERIMENTATION. A HAWTHORNE EFFECT IS CREATED IN THE GHETTO SCHOOL BY THE VERY PROCESS OF INITIATING AN INNOVATIVE PROGRAM, AND THUS THE SELF-IMAGE OF THE ENTIRE SCHOOL IS IMPROVED. IT IS ALSO NOW BECOMING RECOGNIZED THAT THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IS THE MOST IMPORTANT LEVEL TO BEGIN EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION. AND BECAUSE INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES MAY HAVE WIDESPREAD APPLICABILITY, MORE EFFECTIVE METHODS OF INFORMATION DIFFUSION ARE NEEDED. THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE "CTA JOURNAL," VOLUME 63, NUMBER 1, JANUARY 1967. (NH)