This study attempted to assess the effect of behavior modification techniques on community college open enrollment students with severe educational deficits. Of 30 suburban New York members of a reading class, half were exposed to direct teaching, instructor praise, peer partners, self and peer ratings, role playing, Premack contracts, testwiseness training, and relaxation and systematic desensitization. It was hoped that the additional hour of training, three times a week, would result in more active involvement, better self-management, and a lessening of test-taking anxiety, as well as generalize to the reading program itself. Evaluation by posttest revealed no significant difference between the experimental and control groups. Possible explanations for the lack of reading improvement included the possibility of an overly relaxed test-taking attitude and the fact that the experimental group read over twice as many books as the control group. Questionnaires indicated that the experimental group felt more favorably toward their instructor, however, and self-reports and direct observation revealed changes in attitude such as increased self-confidence, awareness of others' problems, and understanding of others. (KS)