Mineral Point Elementary School in Wisconsin initiated an instruction and internship program among its first-grade teaching team. The program aimed to assure that first- and second-graders developed reading and language arts competencies, math readiness, and social and work habits that will lead to outstanding literacy abilities. A key factor in the program was the use of an intern to reduce student-teacher ratio, which in turn enabled flexible grouping and other instruction methods. Action research conducted on the 1996-97 program studied the effects of the teaming of teachers with an intern. Checklists, observations, teacher interviews, and test scores (Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, Houghton Mifflin Leveled Theme Tests, baseline assessment scores) were used. Findings indicated positive impacts on instructional innovation, student achievement (44 percent increase in baseline assessment), and teacher and student morale. (EV)