REPORTED IN AN EVALUATION OF A PROGRAM OF STATE AID FOR EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMS WAS AN OVERVIEW OF THE LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION GOVERNING SUCH PROGRAMS. A PURPOSE OF THE FINANCIAL AID TO LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS WILLING TO EXPERIMENT WITH INNOVATIONS TO IMPROVE INSTRUCTIONAL QUALITY WAS TO PROMOTE THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD IN ATTACKING TEACHING AND LEARNING PROBLEMS. THROUGH THE SEVENTH YEAR OF OPERATION, 74 PROJECTS WERE UNDERTAKEN WITH 166 DISTRICTS PARTICIPATING A TOTAL OF 227 TIMES. WHILE LOCAL DISTRICTS INVESTED $1,000,000, THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT CONTRIBUTED $1,500,000. THE ORIGINAL LEGISLATION RELATED TO SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS, BUT THE COVERAGE WAS BROADENED IN LATER YEARS. ADDITIONAL CHANGES WERE LIBERALIZATION OF RESOURCES AND STATE-AID PAYMENTS. PROGRAM EVALUATION WAS BASED ON THE EXTENT OF SCHOOL DISTRICT PARTICIPATION, THE EMERGENCE OF NEW IDEAS, THE ABILITY OF LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO CONDUCT RESEARCH, AND THE DISSEMINATION OF FINDINGS. THE GROWTH IN NUMBERS OF DISTRICTS, TEACHERS, AND PUPILS INVOLVED WAS GREAT, BUT EXPERIMENTATION WAS LIMITED TO WEALTHIER DISTRICTS, THOSE WITH LARGE ENROLLMENTS, AND THOSE CLOSE TO COLLEGES. THROUGH THE PROJECTS, ALMOST ALL OF THE NEW INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACHES AT THE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY LEVELS WERE INTRODUCED. THE ABILITY OF LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO CONDUCT RESEARCH WAS QUESTIONED BECAUSE ALMOST ONE THIRD OF THE PROJECTS WERE NOT COMPLETED, OUTSIDE CONSULTANTS WERE HEAVILY RELIED ON, AND THERE WAS GREAT TURNOVER AMONG PERSONNEL. ALTHOUGH THE PROJECTS WERE PUBLICIZED THROUGH JOURNAL ARTICLES, NEWSPAPERS, CONFERENCES, AND RESPONSES TO INQUIRIES, NO SYSTEMATIC MEANS FOR REPORTING AND MAKING AVAILABLE THE FINDINGS WERE DEVISED. RECOMMENDATIONS WERE MADE FOR INVOLVEMENT OF A MORE REPRESENTATIVE GROUP OF DISTRICTS, EXPANSION OF TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION, BETTER DISSEMINATION OF FINDINGS, MORE DEFINITIVE STATEMENTS OF OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY, GREATER CONTROL OF THE TEACHER VARIABLE, CONSIDERATION IN THE EXPERIMENTS OF CLASSIFICATIONS OF PUPILS WITHIN GROUPS, AND THE RECRUITMENT OF SPECIALISTS TRAINED IN EDUCATION RESEARCH.