THE TEACHER ASSISTANT TRAINING PROGRAM WAS A JOINT EFFORT BY CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY, CUYAHOGA COUNTY WELFARE DEPARTMENT, AND THE CLEVELAND BOARD OF EDUCATION TO TRAIN 80 WELFARE CLIENTS, IN A FIVE MONTH PROGRAM, AS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER AIDES IN THE CLEVELAND SCHOOL SYSTEM, TO ENABLE THEM TO BECOME SELF SUPPORTING, AND TO DEVELOP AND TEST A TRAINING CURRICULUM. THE PROGRAM CONSISTED OF 17 HOURS A WEEK OF FIELD WORK IN A CLASSROOM AND 10-12 HOURS A WEEK IN SMALL GROUP INSTRUCTION AT THE UNIVERSITY. TRAINEES WERE DIVIDED INTO EIGHT GROUPS, EACH SUPERVISED BY A CORE LEADER, TO INTEGRATE FIELD AND CLASSROOM LEARNING AND TO BUILD MORALE AND SELF CONFIDENCE. THERE WAS AN ORIENTATION PROGRAM FOR FIELD PLACEMENT TEACHERS AND CORE LEADERS. CLASSROOM TEACHERS AND CORE LEADERS EVALUATED THE TRAINEES. IT WAS RECOMMENDED THAT THE PROGRAM BE INCREASED TO NINE MONTHS AND THAT SPECIAL EMPHASIS BE PLACED ON HEALTH, CHILD CARE, AND COUNSELING SERVICES. (SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES FOR CLASSROOM AIDES, VISION TESTS AND EYE EXERCISES, AND THE FIELD PLACEMENT RATING SCALE ARE GIVEN. THE CURRICULUM FOR ART, CLERICAL SKILLS, CHILD DEVELOPMENT, LANGUAGE ARTS, SOCIAL STUDIES, SCIENCE, AND MATHEMATICS IS OUTLINED. APPENDIXES INCLUDE RECOMMENDED MOVIES, CLASSROOM TASKS, GUIDELINES FOR OBSERVATION, ROLE RELATIONSHIPS, AND LIP AND TONGUE EXERCISES. DOCUMENT INCLUDES SEVEN TABLES.) (AJ)