A longitudinal program of workshop-centered rehabilitation services was administered to mentally retarded adolescents. Results with the 36 remaining at the end of the 3rd year indicated that most characteristics central to vocational development were stable by early adolesence; a "competence cluster" of variables covaried systematically; high and low employability groups differed on most basic status variables; and the Purdue Pegboard was the best single predictor of employability. However, neither the control and experimental groups nor the attrition group and the remaining 36 differed significantly. Two employability groups were determined by production and ratings: the high group, composed of lower class Negroes, ranked higher than the low group, of middle class whites, on work behavior ratings and IQ levels. The magnitude of the level of aspiration ratios tended to correlate negatively with the employability index and the competence cluster; self concept variables correlated positively for employability for Negroes and negatively for whites. The followup of 33 subjects in the 5th year indicated that when the relationship between rated employability and actual adjustment was calculated, the resulting prediction was significant (p .03). (Author/JD)