IN 1960, THE WISCONSIN COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH CONDUCTED AN INTERVIEW AND QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY OF PARTICIPANTS IN TWO LAY-READER PROGRAMS AT THE SECONDARY LEVEL--(1) A PROGRAM AT RACINE IN ITS FIRST FULL SEMESTER IN WHICH LAY READERS CORRECTED AND EVALUATED, BUT DID NOT GRADE, APPROXIMATELY HALF OF THE THEMES FROM SELECTED CLASSES, AND (2) A PROGRAM AT SHEBOYGAN IN ITS FOURTH SEMESTER IN WHICH LAY READERS CORRECTED, EVALUATED, AND TENTATIVELY GRADED ALL THEMES FROM SELECTED CLASSES. BOTH PROGRAMS REQUIRED TEACHERS TO REVIEW THE READERS' EVALUATIONS BEFORE THE COMPOSITIONS WERE RETURNED TO STUDENTS, AND RESTRICTED LAY READERS TO COURSES FOR COLLEGE-BOUND STUDENTS. IN GENERAL, TEACHERS, STUDENTS, AND READERS FAVORED THE PROGRAMS BECAUSE THEY LED TO MORE FREQUENT STUDENT WRITING, PROVIDED CRITICISM FROM A SECOND VIEWPOINT, AND AIDED THE STUDENT IN PREPARING FOR MORE RIGOROUS WRITING ASSIGNMENTS IN COLLEGE. IMPORTANT ASPECTS FOR SUCCESS OF THE PROGRAMS WERE--(1) CONTACT BETWEEN THE LAY READERS AND THEIR CLASSES, ESPECIALLY IN THE FORM OF CONFERENCES, (2) GOOD RAPPORT AND UNDERSTANDING AMONG TEACHER, READER, AND STUDENT CONCERNING THE CRITERIA FOR GRADING THEMES, AND (3) THE PROMPT RETURN OF PAPERS, ENABLING STUDENTS TO SEE CORRECTIONS ON ONE THEME BEFORE WRITING ANOTHER. GENERALLY, ALL PARTICIPANTS FELT THAT THE ASSIGNING OF FINAL GRADES TO PAPERS SHOULD REMAIN THE TEACHER'S RESPONSIBILITY. ALTHOUGH NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR SMALLER CLASSES AND CLASS LOADS, AND NOT AFFECTING REGULAR CLASSES OF TERMINAL STUDENTS WHERE THE REAL BURDEN OF THEME-CORRECTING LIES, THE LAY-READER PROGRAMS PROVED TO BE EFFECTIVE IN ENRICHING THE CURRICULUM FOR SUPERIOR STUDENTS. THIS ARTICLE APPEARS AS "WISCONSIN COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH SPECIAL BULLETIN NO. 1," NOVEMBER 1960. (DL)