THIS PROJECT WAS DEVELOPED TO SHOW WHAT EFFECT THE SERVICES OF A RESEARCH TEACHER FOR EDUCABLE MENTALLY RETARDED PUPILS 1 DAY A WEEK WOULD HAVE ON THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND SOCIAL MATURITY OF THESE CHILDREN AND TO DETERMINE IF SUCH A PROGRAM IS FINANCIALLY PRACTICABLE FOR RURAL COMMUNITIES. THE EFFECT OF SUCH A PROGRAM ON THE INSERVICE TRAINING OF REGULAR CLASSROOM TEACHERS WAS ALSO INVESTIGATED. PUPILS IN GRADES 1-8 IN 20 RURAL COMMUNITIES WERE GIVEN THE CALIFORNIA TEST OF MENTAL MATURITY AND 9 PERCENT OF THOSE TESTED APPEARED TO BE IN THE EDUCABLE MENTALLY RETARDED GROUP (50-75 IQ). THIS SMALLER GROUP WAS RETESTED USING THE STANFORD BINET TEST, FORM L, AND AS A RESULT 3.4 PERCENT OF THE ORIGINAL GROUP (APPROXIMATELY 90 STUDENTS) WERE CLASSIFIED AS EDUCABLE RETARDATES, CONFIRMING THEIR ELIGIBILITY FOR THE PROGRAM. THE COMMUNITIES WHERE THESE CHILDREN LIVED WERE DIVIDED IN HALF, ONE PART TO SERVE AS AN EXPERIMENTAL GROUP AND THE OTHER AS A CONTROL GROUP. TEACHERS WERE EMPLOYED TO SERVE THE FORMER GROUP 1 DAY A WEEK IN SPECIAL CLASSES AND TO HOLD CONFERENCES WITH REGULAR TEACHERS AND LEAVE MATERIALS WITH THEM FOR USE DURING THE REMAINDER OF THE SCHOOL WEEK. THE CONTROL GROUP HAD NO SPECIAL WORK. TEST SCORES OF THE SUBJECTS USING THE CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT TEST, THE CORE ACHIEVEMENT TEST, AND THE ACHIEVEMENT RATING SCALE SHOWED SIGNIFICANT EXPERIMENTAL GROUP GAINS OVER THE CONTROL GROUP. FROM THE SUCCESSFUL RESULTS OF THIS PROJECT, A STATE PLAN WAS INITIATED PAYING 70 PERCENT OF SPECIAL TEACHER'S SALARY IN RURAL COMMUNITIES WITH FEWER THAN 300 PUPILS. IT WAS SUGGESTED THAT SIMILAR PROGRAMS BE SET UP IN OTHER RURAL AREAS TO VALIDATE THE FINDINGS OF THIS PROJECT. (JH)