The number and characteristics of ninth grade students who ran a high risk of not successfully completing their ninth grade program were investigated. With the assistance of the school guidance counselors data were collected with two forms, one which contained information from teachers about students identified as "high risk" in the eighth grade and one which identified those ninth grade students who had failed two or more subjects at mid-term or were taking remedial work. Results indicated that: (1) the "high risk" group contained proportionately more boys than girls; (2) students in the "high risk" group appeared to be only slightly less capable academically than students in general; and (3) many academic problems were related to school placement and/or course selection. (Author/HLM)