THE INTERACTION OF TEACHER-STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS AND NEEDS AS RELATED TO STUDENTS' ACHIEVEMENT, IMPROVEMENT, AND SATISFACTION WAS EXPLORED DURING THE REPORTED RESEARCH. THE FOLLOWING HYPOTHESES WERE TESTED--(1) THOSE STUDENTS WHOSE MEASURED CHARACTERISTICS ARE MOST SIMILAR TO THOSE OF THE INSTRUCTOR OBTAIN THE HIGHEST ACHIEVEMENT RATIOS, (2) THOSE STUDENTS WHOSE MEASURED CHARACTERISTICS AGREE MOST NEARLY WITH THOSE OF THE INSTRUCTOR SHOW THE GREATEST AMOUNT OF IMPROVEMENT, AND (3) THOSE STUDENTS WHOSE MEASURED CHARACTERISTICS ARE MOST SIMILAR TO THOSE OF THE INSTRUCTOR REPORT THE HIGHEST DEGREE OF SATISFACTION WITH IMMEDIATE OUTCOMES OF THE COURSE. FIVE SEPARATE INSTRUMENTS PROVIDED DATA ON EIGHT PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF ALL TEACHERS AND THE STUDENTS ENROLLED IN AN EDUCATIONAL SKILLS COURSE AT OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY. CORRELATIONS BASED ON DATA COLLECTED LED TO THE CONCLUSION THAT STUDENT SATISFACTION AND PERFORMANCE ARE MORE INFLUENCED BY TEACHER CHARACTERISTICS THAN BY TEACHER-STUDENT SIMILARITY OF CHARACTERISTICS. THE GENERAL LACK OF SIGNIFICANCE IN TEACHER-STUDENT SIMILARITY INDICATED THAT THERE IS LITTLE EVIDENCE OF INTERACTION OF STUDENTS AND TEACHERS ALONG MEASURABLE PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS. (WB)