The objective of the report was to emphasize the importance of classroom contingencies on academic achievement. A study is reported where an introductory psychology class of 253 subjects was divided into four groups. Using a Latin Square design an intraclass analysis of the effects of test frequency (weekly vs monthly) and contingency grading (test scores count or do not count toward the students' grade) is presented. Whether tests do or don't count toward grades was found to be a much more significant variable on academic achievement than test frequency. In the last half of the report the author presents a review of teaching methodology research showing no significant difference in academic achievement due to differing teaching procedures. Three different conclusions from this literature are presented to explain why educators are moving away from a more objective, highly structured instruction to more permissive approaches. A fourth conclusion of the literature is proposed to support the author's contention that education's move toward more permissive, non-structured classes is not the route to better student development. (Author)