Examined with 63 educationally handicapped (EH) students (6-l4 years old) was the effect on academic gains of special class placement, consisting of a self-contained EH class on the elementary level or a learning disabilities group on the elementary, junior high, or high school level. Analyses of data from the Ss' district records provided information in the following areas (results are in parentheses): academic gains of total population (Ss improved significantly in the subtest of word recognition, but not spelling or arithmetic), oldest vs. youngest (no significant differences on any of the subtests), longest vs. shortest time in remedial study (Ss with shortest time made significantly higher gains in word recognition than Ss with a longer time), highest vs. lowest IQ (significant gains were shown for those Ss having the lowest IQ scores), and correlations between subtest and IQ (no significant correlations). (IM)