This study compared scores on the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT) of 50 seventh and eighth grade students receiving instruction in regular classroom settings and 50 seventh and eighth grade students receiving instruction in special education resource room settings. Scores from five test components were examined, including: Total Reading, Total Math, Total Language, Basic Battery, and Complete Battery. Results indicated that scores from seventh to eighth grade tended to remain stable or to increase slightly among resource room students and to decline among regular class students. A significant difference was found between groups on the Total Reading component, with the regular class scores declining and the special class scores remaining stable. The greatest difference in standard deviations occurred between seventh grade regular classroom students and seventh grade resource room students on the Complete Battery. This finding supports the expected homogeneity of grouping among resource room students. The paper concludes that placement criteria for the resource room setting are effective in grouping students of similar abilities. (JDD)