THE ADDITION OF A TEACHER-ASSISTANT (TA) PROVIDED A RICHER ENVIRONMENT AND CURRICULUM RESULTING IN A HIGH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY GAIN FOR THE CULTURALLY DEPRIVED KINDERGARTENER. AFTER SIX ORIENTATION SESSIONS AND A WEEK OF OBERVATION, A TA WAS ASSIGNED AS A SECOND TEACHER TO ONE OF THREE MORNING AND THREE AFTERNOON KINDERGARTEN SESSIONS AT THE THREE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS FOR 6 WEEKS. A LANGUAGE AND SPEECH EVALUATION TEST AND A DRAW-A-MAN TEST WERE ADMINISTERED TO EACH CHILD BEFORE AND AFTER THE PROJECT. DAILY LOGS WERE KEPT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF CHILDREN IN SMALL AND LARGE GROUPS. TWO KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS NOT INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT ANALYZED THE LOGS FOR ACTIVITIES THAT TOOK PLACE IN THE EXPERIMENTAL CLASSROOM, AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE ACTIVITIES TO CULTURALLY DEPRIVED ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS. THE ANALYSIS INDICATED THAT THE ADDITION OF A TA RESULTED IN (1) MORE SMALL GROUP ACTIVITIES, (2) MORE TIME FOR TEACHER OBSERVATION AND NOTE-TAKING DURING INSTRUCTIONAL PERIODS, (3) MORE INDIVIDUAL CONTACT WITH CHILDREN, (4) MORE CHILD-TO-CHILD INTERACTION IN SMALL GROUPS, (5) MORE EFFICIENT HANDLING OF CLASSROOM ROUTINES, (6) MORE ATTENTION TO THE CHILD'S LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT, AND (7) INCREASED USE OF TESTING AND ACADEMIC-TYPE ACTIVITIES. PRE- AND POST-TEST RESULTS OF THE LANGUAGE AND SPEECH EVALUATION AND DRAW-A-MAN TEST SHOWED STUDENT PROGRESS IN LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT, OBJECT NAMING, AND WHOLE-PART PERCEPTIONS. SINCE THE PROJECT LACKED A CONTROL GROUP, THE GAINS CANNOT BE ATTRIBUTED EXCLUSIVELY TO THE ADDITION OF A TA. HOWEVER THE COMBINATION OF VARIABLES (TEACHER GOALS, CURRICULUM, SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT) PRODUCED STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT RESULTS IN THE DIRECTION ANTICIPATED. (JB)