The hypothesis of this 3-year study was that contact with supportive influences (peer leaders, personal counseling interviews, group counseling sessions, and warm, sincere, interesting teachers) would improve the academic performance of underachieving secondary school students. The subjects, 440 seventh, ninth, and 10th graders from the Kalamazoo (Michigan) Public School system, were divided into four experimental and four control groups. Each experimental group received one form of the supportive treatment. The results of the pre- and post-testing indicated that the overall objectives of improved grades and reduced anxiety were not realized. However, the "peer leader" and the "group counseling" groups showed fewer absences and tardinesses and milder, less frequent disciplinary problems. These inconclusive findings reinforce the hypothesis that the underachieving syndrome is rooted in the home and environment and that it should be attended to in the upper elementary years. [Final page of document marginally reproducible.] (KG)