The paper describes the different types of cognitive, affective, and physical conditions that constitute a school's learning environment, and explains how the learning environment can create and aggravate deviant behavior in some students. One element of the American school structure is group instruction: groups of students are taught by a particular teacher for short periods of time. The teacher's instructional methods may be favorable for some students and not for others. If there is a consistent mismatch between student and instructor (or instructional system), the student may feel inadequate as a learner and his aspirations for further learning may decrease. School administrators and teachers tend to accept low achievement from these students instead of remedying it. Once students have been labeled as low achievers, they may develop more deviant habits, such as cutting class or dropping out, in order to avoid the uncomfortable situation created by attendance at school. One solution to this problem would be development of multiple environment schools, where students can move among various learning environments created for specific goals and learning styles. In addition, schools must be aware of the level of their outreach to students, effectiveness of problem-solving mechanisms, limits for acceptable personal conduct, communication processes within the school, and possible discrimination. (AV)