The purpose of this study was to determine whether educable mentally retarded pupils could perform certain woodworking skills with a measurable degree of proficiency following instruction and training in the use of eight selected hand tools. Pupils were aged 11 to 15 years with I.Q.'s ranging from 47 to 83. Two groups were formed according to low and high I.Q., and manipulative pretests, 8 weeks of instruction, and post tests were given to each pupil participating in the study. The t-test was applied to the data to determine the significance at the 5 percent level. Both groups showed gains from pretest to post test, but only the Lammer test proved significant when the t-test was applied. Recommendations were: (1) Industrial arts should be included as a regular subject, (2) Adequate facilities should be provided, (3) Demonstrations and lectures should be limited to 5 to 7 minutes, (4) Tools should be carefully selected, and (5) Related information in other subject areas should be introduced to stimulate and reinforce learning. This D.Ed. thesis was submitted to Texas A and M University. (GR)