Because the stratified levels in schools and school systems bear widely accepted symbolic statuses, a student's position in the hierarchy may influence the pattern of his or her educational career independently of scholastic achievement. A study was conducted to investigate the simultaneous effects of the rank of students' reading groups in first grade and their first grade achievement on their assignment to reading groups at the beginning of second grade. The twelve first grade classrooms analyzed in the study came from six schools in three Chicago-area school districts. During the 1981-82 school year, researchers gathered information on first grade organization, instruction, and learning. Follow-up data were gathered during the next school year. Data analysis revealed two patterns: one in which a student's reading group level in second grade depended on his or her first grade position, and the other in which achievement appeared to be the criterion for placement. Examination of the composition of first and second grade reading groups, however, revealed that in both cases, teachers had attempted to reduce the heterogeneity of low and middle reading groups between first and second grade. (FL)