A learning opportunity risk is defined as an absence of instruction or insufficient attention to proficiency at an early grade of instruction in a subject matter which will generate serious learning problems in later grades. A method for identifying such risks has been derived from analysis of district-level Instructional Accomplishment Information (IAI) data bases. The method involves examination of patterns of instructional accomplishments in the first through sixth grades as they relate to the scope, sequence, and emphasis of grade-by-grade instruction. The operational elements of the method are: (1) learning opportunities--skill areas on which instructional time is actually invested in a given subject matter at a given grade level; (2) instructional accomplishments--the mean percentage of student performance arrayed by skill areas and school grades; and (3) learning opportunity risks--patterns of instructional accomplishments within and across grade levels that appear to depress subsequent instructional performance. The method is illustrated for the subjects of elementary school mathematics and reading in two rural southern school districts. (JD)