Examined were the cognitive preferences of sixth grade students in relationship both to student involvement in a program utilizing Elementary Science Study Materials and to the teaching strategies employed by the teachers. Two-hundred twenty-six students of eleven teachers, who had taken part in summer workshops to gain experience in using ESS materials and to obtain an understanding of the basic philosophy underlying this new science program, were designated as the experimental group. One-hundred twenty-three students attending the same area schools and their eleven teachers who were not active in the ESS program composed a second group, the "ripple control". A third group of 127 students were made of classes in schools which were not in the same area. Two instruments were developed for use in this study: the "Cognitive Preference Measure" and the "Teaching Strategy Inventory for Teachers". From the findings of this study, two possible conclusions were made: (1) on the bases of the variables used for grouping, no significant differences existed, or, (2) there were differences among the cognitive preferences of students, but these differences were not detected by the instrument developed for this study. [Not available in hardcopy due to marginal legibility of original document.] (BR)