A STUDY WAS MADE TO DISCOVER THE CURRICULAR AND ADMINISTRATIVE ADJUSTMENTS THAT WERE NEEDED IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF GEORGIA TO INSURE BETTER EDUCATION FOR MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN. THE EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT, SOCIAL STATUS, AND EMOTIONAL ADJUSTMENT OF RETARDED CHILDREN WERE STUDIED AND EVALUATED, USING THREE DIFFERENT SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTS FOR COMPARATIVE PURPOSES. THESE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENTS WERE--(1) SPECIAL CLASSES FOR THE MENTALLY HANDICAPPED WHICH MET STATE STANDARDS, (2) REGULAR CLASSES PROVIDED WITH THE SERVICES OF AN ITINERANT SPECIALIST, AND (3) REGULAR CLASSES WITH NO SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICES. APPROXIMATELY 500 STUDENTS WERE SCREENED AND/OR TESTED, AND OF THESE, 193 CHILDREN MET THE CRITERIA AND WERE USED IN THE ANALYSIS. THE SUBJECTS WERE DIVIDED AS FOLLOWS--(1) ITINERANT GROUP - 67, (2) SPECIAL CLASS GROUP - 48, AND (3) REGULAR CLASS GROUP - 78. THEY WERE FURTHER MATCHED ACCORDING TO MEAN CHRONOLOGICAL AND MENTAL AGE, RURAL-URBAN DIFFERENCES, AND SEX DISTRIBUTION. TESTS WERE GIVEN DURING THREE PERIODS TO DETERMINE THE INITIAL STATUS OF EACH CHILD AND TO RECORD ANY CHANGES AT THE END OF 6 MONTHS AND 1 YEAR. THE STUDY WAS LIMITED TO A GENERAL VIEW OF THE RELATIVE EDUCATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS OF EACH ENVIRONMENT. IT WAS GENERALLY CONCLUDED THAT THERE WERE NO CONTRA-INDICATIONS FOR THE USE OF ANY ONE OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEMS TESTED. A NEED FOR BETTER TECHNIQUES TO MEASURE SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL ADJUSTMENT WAS NOTED. DETERMINATIONS WERE MADE THAT THE PRECISE VALUE OF ANY PARTICULAR ADMINISTRATIVE ADJUSTMENT WILL DEPEND LARGELY ON THE QUALITIES AND TRAINING OF PERSONNEL, ON THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, AND UPON THE PARTICULAR NEEDS OF INDIVIDUAL CHILDREN. (JH)