A STUDY WAS DEVISED TO APPRAISE THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF NAVAJO STUDENTS LIVING IN DORMITORIES AWAY FROM THE INDIAN RESERVATION. THE FOLLOWING SEVEN FACTORS WERE CHOSEN TO BE INVESTIGATED AS BEING DIRECTLY RELATED TO ACHIEVEMENT--(1) INTELLIGENCE, (2) READING ABILITY, (3) ANXIETY, (4) SELF-CONCEPT, (5) MOTIVATION, (6) VERBAL DEVELOPMENT, (7) INTERACTION WITH THE AMERICAN CULTURE. INTERVIEWS WERE USED TO TEST THE INTERACTION WITH AMERICAN CULTURE, AND STANDARDIZED TESTS WERE ADMINISTERED IN TESTING THE OTHER FACTORS. SUBJECTS IN THE STUDY INCLUDED 97 NAVAJO STUDENTS AND 848 NON-NAVAJO STUDENTS IN INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM DIVISIONS SEVEN THROUGH TWELVE IN FOUR SECONDARY SCHOOLS. NAVAJO STUDENTS SCORED SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN NON-NAVAJO STUDENTS ON MEASURES OF INTELLIGENCE, SELF-CONCEPT, AND MOTIVATION, BUT SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER ON THE ANXIETY SCALE. RESULTS OF TESTING IN VERBAL DEVELOPMENT INDICATED THAT NAVAJO STUDENTS ARE OPERATING AT A LOWER LEVEL OF CONCEPT FORMATION THAN THEIR NON-NAVAJO PEERS. INTERVIEWS WITH NAVAJO STUDENTS TO DETERMINE INTERACTION WITH THE DOMINANT CULTURE INDICATED THAT THIS FACTOR ALSO INFLUENCES THE ACHIEVEMENT OF NAVAJO STUDENTS. IT WAS CONCLUDED, HOWEVER, THAT READING ABILITY IS THE FACTOR THAT EXERTS THE MOST INFLUENCE OVER THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF NAVAJO STUDENTS. (JS)