FACTORS WHICH WERE BELIEVED TO CONTRIBUTE TO STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT WERE INVESTIGATED. THE SAMPLE WAS TAKEN FROM 130 FOUR-YEAR SECONDARY PUBLIC AND NON-PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN SOUTH DAKOTA. STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS WAS COMPARED TO CLASS RANK, AND EXAMINED IN RELATION TO SUCH SCHOOL VARIABLES AS (1) SCHOOL ENROLLMENT, (2) SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS ENROLLMENT, (3) SCHOOL SIZE, (4) FACILITIES, AND (5) INSTRUCTION. SOURCES OF DATA WERE (1) QUESTIONNAIRES, (2) CONFERENCES, AND (3) SCHOOL AND STATE DEPARTMENT RECORDS. STUDENTS WERE TESTED FOR ACHIEVEMENT AND ABILITY. FINDINGS REVEALED THAT--(1) ONE-THIRD OF THE SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS TEACHERS WERE TEACHING IN OTHER SUBJECT AREAS, (2) THERE WERE NO RADICAL DIFFERENCES IN INSTRUCTION, (3) FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT WERE INADEQUATE ACCORDING TO SELECTED STANDARDS, (4) THE MEAN LEVEL OF STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AS COMPARED TO THE NATIONAL NORMATIVE GROUP WAS THE SAME FOR GENERAL SCIENCE, LOWER FOR MATHEMATICS, LOWER FOR PHYSICS, AND HIGHER FOR CHEMISTRY, (5) STUDENTS' ACHIEVEMENT IN LARGE SCHOOLS WAS HIGHER THAN THAT IN SMALLER ONES, AND HIGHER FOR MALES THAN FOR FEMALES, (6) MATHEMATICS SCORES WERE THE BEST PREDICTION OF CLASS RANK, AND (7) STUDENTS HAVING HIGH ACHIEVEMENT IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH TEACHERS HAVING GOOD PREPARATION AND LONG EXPERIENCE. THIS DOCUMENT IS AVAILABLE AS ORDER NO. 66-13,089 FOR $9.00 ON MICROFILM, $31.95 XEROGRAPHY, FROM UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS, 300 NORTH ZEEB ROAD, ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN 48103. (DH)