The Speech and Language Development Project, funded under ESEA Title I, was designed to improve the verbal skills of economically disadvantaged children in the primary grades in the Milwaukee public schools, and was later expanded to include older (7-13) educable mentally handicapped youth. The 325 participants worked regularly with six speech therapists in groups of six to eight to improve their receptive and expressive language. A four-group experimental-control research design was used to evaluate that part of the project involving the primary-grade children; a two-group experimental design using the project group and a nonproject group was used to evaluate the project's success with the educable mentally handicapped students. A followup study was done of a random sample of Head Start students who had had previous language training. Evaluative data was collected from teachers, administrators, and therapists. Project therapists compiled a curriculum guide (see UD 007 935). (EF)