THIS STUDY ATTEMPTED TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT GIVING PUPILS SPECIFIC INSTRUCTION IN THE SKILLS OF PURPOSEFUL LISTENING WOULD IMPROVE THEIR LISTENING ABILITY. NINETY RANDOMLY-SELECTED SEVETH-GRADERS WITHOUT HEARING IMPEDIMENTS AND OF COMPARABLE INTELLIGENCE WERE DIVIDED EQUALLY INTO THREE GROUPS. THE ISOLATED-CONTROL GROUP RECEIVED INSTRUCTION IN LITERATURE, THE CONTROL GROUP "DID NOT RECEIVE ANY SPECIAL TREATMENT," AND THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP RECEIVED INSTRUCTION IN PURPOSEFUL LISTENING. FIVE LESSONS EACH IN LISTENING FOR SIGNIFICANT DETAILS, IN GRASPING MAIN IDEAS, AND IN FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS WERE GIVEN TO THIS EXPERIMENTAL GROUP. FORMS 3A AND 3B OF THE STEP LISTENING TESTS WERE USED FOR PRE- AND POST-TESTING ONE WEEK BEFORE AND ONE WEEK AFTER THE 20-DAY EXPERIMENT. STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PRE- AND POST-TEST SCORES FOR THE THREE GROUPS CLEARLY INDICATED THAT SUPERIOR GAINS WERE MADE BY THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY INCLUDED THE SMALL SIZE AND RESTRICTED GRADE LEVEL OF THE TEST POPULATION AND THE ABSENCE OF ANY INDICATION OF HOW LONG THE STUDENTS WOULD CONTINUE TO APPLY THE NEWLY-ACQUIRED LISTENING SKILLS. THIS PAPER WAS READ AT THE AERA CONVENTION (FEBRUARY 18, 1967). (RD)