The status of students at risk of failure in public high schools in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) was studied during the 1993-94 school year as part of a larger study of at-risk students in some of the American-affiliated Pacific political entities. In the CNMI, data were collected from 57 student records, and interviews with 27 at-risk students, 29 not at-risk students, 58 teachers, 3 principals, and 7 community leaders. Because of the small sample size in the CNMI, many variables expected to play a role in at-risk status could not be analyzed statistically. However, variables that appeared to be related to students' at-risk status based on response frequencies included: (1) previous academic performance; (2) time spent doing homework; (3) behavioral problems in school; (4) language spoken in the home; (5) absenteeism; (6) alcohol and substance abuse; (7) witnessing an accident (perhaps an indication of environment); and (8) teachers' years of experience. Both academic and personal aspects of schooling were found to be related to the at-risk status of high school students in the CNMI; and recommendations for improvement focus on cooperation between school, home, and community to demonstrate the value of education, improve the quality of instruction, increase parent involvement, and resolve absenteeism and improve recordkeeping. (Contains 18 tables.) (SLD)