An experimental program in Flint, Michigan, was designed to raise the academic level of underachieving children by involving their parents in the daily reading exercises and study habits of their children. Children were given materials including booklets made from old basal readers and file boxes for word cards. Parents were given instruction in helping children use these materials and suggestions for preparing children for school. Reading aloud to children was encouraged. The children involved in the program were Negro, primarily from low-income families where the parents had only limited educational backgrounds. Two elementary schools participated during 1961-62, with a total of 1,100 children in grades K-6. The Gates Reading Tests were used as pretests and post-tests to measure the effectiveness of the program and to compare children in it with a control group made up of children in another elementary school. Greater gains in vocabulary than in comprehension were noted in all groups, with children in the two experimental groups showing significantly greater gains than those in the control group. Parents who were surveyed regarding the program were enthusiastic about their own involvement and about their children's progress. References are included. (MD)