FOUR SELF-INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMS WERE STUDIED AND REVISED BY USE OF TUTORING TECHNIQUES WITH INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS TO CREATE MODIFIED PROGRAMS SUPERIOR TO THE ORIGINAL ONES. THE PROGRAMS USED IN THE STUDY WERE FIRST-GRADE READING, FIRST-GRADE ARITHMETIC, JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL SPANISH, AND SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL GEOMETRY. PROGRAMS THAT LED TO IMPROVED STUDENT PERFORMANCE WERE THEN COMPARED TO ISOLATE THOSE OPERATIONS COMMON TO ALL FOUR PROGRAMS. SYSTEMATIC METHODOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES FROM ONE CONTENT AREA TO ANOTHER AND FROM ONE AGE LEVEL TO ANOTHER WERE ALSO EXAMINED. THREE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT WERE ISOLATED--(1) EVERY SKILL SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE PROGRAM OBJECTIVES, AND EVERY SUBSKILL THAT LOGICALLY CONTRIBUTES TO THOSE OBJECTIVES SHOULD BE EXPLICITLY COVERED BY THE PROGRAM UNLESS IT EXISTS IN THE STUDENT'S ENTRY REPERTOIRE, (2) ANY MATERIALS THAT DO NOT CONTRIBUTE TO THE PROGRAM OBJECTIVES SHOULD BE ELIMINATED, AND (3) THE STUDENT SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO DEMONSTRATE MASTERY OF EACH COMPONENT SUBSKILL BEFORE HE IS ALLOWED TO ADVANCE TO NEW TOPICS THAT ARE BASED ON THE EARLIER MATERIALS. (WB)