THE TEST GROUP CONSISTED OF ALL CHILDREN FOUND TO BE DELINQUENT BY A COUNTY JUVENILE COURT IN INDIANA DURING A 16-MONTH PERIOD. THE MATCHED CONTROLS WERE FROM THE SAME SCHOOL SYSTEM. BOTH THE READING AND THE ARITHMETIC GRADES WERE BELOW THE 'C' LEVEL FOR DELINQUENTS. THIS IS THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN ADEQUATE AND INADEQUATE ACHIEVEMENT. THE LOWER I.Q. SCORES MAY NOT BE DUE PRIMARILY TO LESS INTELLIGENCE. THE TWO TESTS USED BOTH HAVE HEAVY VERBAL LOADINGS AND POOR READING ABILITY PLUS CULTURAL AND ATTITUDINAL FACTORS MAY ACCOUNT FOR THE I.Q. DIFFERENCE. A COMPARISON OF SELECTED SCALES FROM THE IOWA TESTS OF BASIC SKILLS SHOWS THAT THE DELINQUENTS HAD SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER READING, TOTAL LANGUAGE, COMPREHENSION, AND WORK STUDY SKILLS. HOWEVER, NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE WAS FOUND ON THE ARITHMETIC SCALE. TEACHERS SHOULD BE ALERT TO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POOR SCHOOL PERFORMANCE AND DELINQUENCY. ALTHOUGH POOR SCHOOL PERFORMANCE DOES NOT 'CAUSE' DELINQUENCY, IT IS AN ADDITIONAL STRESS WHICH MAY IMPEL THE CHILD TO LEAVE SCHOOL AND BECOME INVOLVED IN ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR. TABLES PRESENT STUDY DATA WHILE REFERENCES ARE APPENDED. (GLR)