THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE IF A HAWTHORNE EFFECT WERE PRESENT IN A 3-YEAR LONGITUDINAL STUDY WHICH COMPARED TWO METHODS OF TEACHING READING IN FIRST GRADE. THE INITIAL SUBJECTS WERE TWO TEACHERS AND FIVE FIRST-GRADE CLASSES OF RANDOMLY ASSIGNED STUDENTS WHO COMPOSED ONE EXPERIMENTAL, ONE CONTROL, AND THREE SUBCONTROL GROUPS. BEGINNING STUDENTS WERE TESTED AT THE END OF EACH OF THE 3 YEARS, AND AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE AND T-TEST WERE USED TO COMPARE PERFORMANCES. RESULTS INDICATED THAT AT THE END OF THE FIRST YEAR, BOTH THE EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL CLASSES WERE SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER THAN THE SUBCONTROL GROUPS. THE THIRD YEAR EXPERIMENTAL GROUP WAS SIGNIFICANTLY POORER THAN THE FIRST YEAR EXPERIMENTAL GROUP, BUT WAS SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER THAN THE FIRST-YEAR SUBCONTROL GROUP. THE SECOND- AND THIRD-YEAR CONTROL GROUPS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER THAN THE FIRST-YEAR CONTROL AND SUBCONTROL GROUPS. IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT TWO TYPES OF HAWTHORNE EFFECTS--A NEGATIVE AND A POSITIVE--MAY HAVE BEEN OPERATING. THE EXPERIMENTAL TEACHER'S PERFORMANCE WAS POSSIBLY HEIGHTENED BY THE NEW METHOD AND ACCOMPANYING ACCOLADES. THE CONTROL TEACHER'S PERFORMANCE WAS DEPRESSED BY THE APPEARANCE OF SUCCESS IN THE EXPERIMENTAL CLASS. PERHAPS A HAWTHORNE EFFECT DID NOT OPERATE FOR HER UNTIL THE SECOND AND THIRD YEARS. REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. THIS PAPER WAS PRESENTED AT THE INTERNATIONAL READING ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE (BOSTON, APRIL 24-27, 1968). (BS)