The research to be described includes two related investigations, one of which was a study of elementary school teachers' perceptions of fatherless boys. The second study involved an attempt to determine relative affects of male and female teachers on the social and emotional development of fatherless boys during the early elementary school years. Twenty-two fourth grade fatherless boys were studied in terms of various measures of social and emotional development. Eleven of these children were in the classrooms of male teachers during the course of an entire school year, while the remaining 11 were under the influence of female teachers. Results consistently favored the male teacher influence, with significantly higher ratings on overall social and emotional development for boys in male teacher classrooms. Significantly higher scores were also obtained by the male teacher group in terms of the childrens' self confidence, feelings of self worth, and ability to accept responsibility. Findings tend to support the argument for the use of male teachers in the elementary grades. (Author/SFK)