A brief description is given of the training program at a delinquent youth residential center for boys in Philadelphia. The main objective of the center's program was to improve the boys' basic skills in reading. Emphasis was on individualized learning through constant diagnostic instruction. The second part of this report explains in detail some of the materials and methods used in classrooms in the Centennial School District in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. These schools used some of the same programs in operation at the delinquent center such as daily activity sheets for junior high and senior high school students, a pragmatic linguistic reading program in its early stages, phrase reading material, and aural comprehension. The authors hope that from studies of unique situations such as that of the delinquents will evolve special programs and materials that will improve the quality of instruction in general. References are included. (NH)