From 1971 through 1973, a federally-supported project, Project Upswing, tried to help children with minimal learning difficulties to function better and more independently in school. Upswing was conducted by staff from the local university schools of education and the public schools systems. The children were first graders selected by their teachers at the beginning of the school year. Half of the children were tutored and half were treated as a comparison group. Tutors planned their own activities, with no prescribed program. An evaluation reported findings in four areas. (1) The two-year experience indicated that tutoring does help children to an important degree. (2) There is nothing to indicate an association between school achievement and self-esteem. However, an improvement in self-esteem will occur with personal attention from someone the child perceives to be important (i.e., a tutor or teacher). (3) Upswing found no support for the common belief that visual-motor skills are important in the development of reading skills. (4) Children tended to maintain their age-adjusted standard scores in reading during the year after Upswing, which indicates that the benefits of the program may well be stable. (TS)