This publication contains two essays and an annotated bibliography of publications about risk. The entries in the bibliography were produced by the various clearinghouses in the ERIC system. The first essay, "Who Is at Risk? Definitions, Demographics, and Decisions," by Aaron M. Pallas, categorizes personal, family, and environmental factors that may place children at risk. Pallas presents demographic data on the distribution and size of the at-risk student population. He recommends reforms to mitigate the effects of risk and forecasts a growth of the at-risk population. The second essay, "On Being at Risk," by Jack L. Frymier and Neville L. Robertson, presents a working definition of risk ("risk of failure in life") and discusses the way in which individual differences influence particular students' responses to risk. The essay describes initial efforts at constructing a scale or index to identify risk. The discussion includes an examination of questions about the availability and confidentiality of data that bear on the conception of risk assumed in the scale. The bibliography includes 136 ERIC publications that appeared between 1986 and 1990, and that respond to a wide range of concerns of educators and other professionals working with at-risk students. Publications are listed alphabetically by author's name with a subject index. A description of the ERIC system and a list of ERIC clearinghouses is also included. (KS)