The purpose of this study was to extend a relationship between teacher verbal rewarding and punishing behavior and subject matter growth previously obtained with middle-class postprimary children, with a different population; namely, first-grade, lower-class children. The subjects were 366 children and 20 teachers from first-grade classes participating in Project Follow-Through in the Eastern United States. The total sample consisted of those 190 Negro and 176 Caucasian children for whom complete test batteries were available. During the school year, teacher-pupil verbal interaction in the selected classrooms was observed and recorded. Measures of verbal reward, verbal punishment, and a control ratio were derived from observations by trained observers for each teacher. The test battery, administered in the fall and spring of the school year, consisted of samples of items drawn from the Metropolitan Readiness Test, Early Childhood Inventory Project Test, and Educational Testing Service Examination. The principal finding was that Negro children gained more on the Word Meaning subtest when they were in integrated classrooms. However, of interest was the inability of this research to substantiate a relationship between teacher verbal behaviors and subject-matter growth of students. (Authors/JM)