Two studies of the Self-Directive Dramatization Project are reported. In the first the relationship of dramatization, self-concept, and reading achievement in middle class children in grades 2 through 7 was examined, and in the second mostly black disadvantaged children in grades 1 through 4 were studies. Both groups of children dramatized stories from three to five times a week over periods of 3 months. In both studies gains in reading ability and self-concept during the self-dramatization period were measured, tested against a null hypothesis, and intercorrelated; and in the second study gains by the experimental groups were compared with those of a corresponding control group. The findings of the second study, thought to be more significant than the first, suggested that the experimental groups made greater gains in reading ability than the control especially the grade 2 experimentals, whose gains exceeded expectations. (EF)