Three 4-week institutes were held, one each in Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Philadelphia, to prepare competent school personnel at the state, county, and district levels to formulate, conduct, and evaluate educational experiments. Participants included teachers, principals, curriculum specialists, research consultants, and superintendents. The institute curriculum covered four broad areas: 1) the research proposal and report, 2) curriculum research and development, 3) curriculum evaluation paradigms and procedures, and 4) techniques for analyzing and interpreting experimental data. Training proceeded primarily by means of a series of instructional packages developed by the Southwest Regional Laboratory as part of their Staff Development Compendium. Followup assistance was also provided to participants. Gains were found between pre- and posttests of participants' knowledge of research methods, and a followup questionnaire showed that 25 percent of the participants had completed and obtained funding for research proposals. (Appendixes contain an outline of participant characteristics, a sample schedule of activities, and responses to the followup questionnaire.) (RT)