The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of having trained paraprofessionals work with classroom teachers to improve the reading achievement of socioeconomically disadvantaged first grade children. The multiple teaching approach used in this study both organized the learning experience for children so that maximum instructional use of teacher and paraprofessional would occur and featured a variety of teaching approaches, materials, and autoinstructive aids. The experimental group (receiving trained paraprofessional help) consisted of 200 students from three schools and the control group (receiving no paraprofessional help) consisted of 100 students from two schools. Both groups were given pre- and posttests. Results showed significant differences in reading achievement between the two groups. A further comparison of experimental group student achievement scores with several preproject group annual scores over a five-year period indicated that a significant change did occur with the project students. (Author/JM)