Two interventions were studied in this project: a drama program presented by three visiting drama consultants in five classes and a daily story-reading period presented by the teacher in three classes and by the co-investigator in another three classes. The interventions lasted for 12 weeks. Subjects were 325 first grade pupils from 21 classrooms in 9 inner-city schools. The purpose of the study was to see whether these interventions had any academic consequences. The assessment procedures selected provided hard data that nevertheless reflected the "humanistic" thrust of the interventions. The report suggests that the daily use of stories or the use of drama, besides having intrinsic value, contributes to academic achievement. This increase was relatively modest and demonstrable when there was a direct link between the form of assessment and the existence of similar program elements. Moreover, it seems that there was a greater chance for demonstrable benefits in academic achievement with story-telling than drama and that the chances for demonstrable benefits are greater with more "inner-city" children. (BZ)