TWO EMPIRICAL STUDIES WERE MADE TO TEST THE DESIRABILITY OF EMPLOYING SOME FORM OF ABILITY GROUPING TO ENHANCE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES IN SCHOOLS. THE TWO FIELD STUDIES SPECIFICALLY EXPLORED SOME OF THE MOTIVATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF ABILITY GROUPING AS MANIFESTED IN SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENT, REPORTED INTEREST IN SCHOOLWORK, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF REALISTIC VOCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS AMONG STUDENTS WHO DIFFER SUBSTANTIALLY IN THE NATURE OF THEIR MOTIVATION TO ACHIEVE. STUDY A WAS UNDERTAKEN TO EXPLORE SOME OF THE POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF PARTICIPATION BY WELL-QUALIFIED, JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN SPECIAL SECTIONS OF MATHEMATICS BEGINNING IN THE SEVENTH GRADE. STUDY B WAS CONCERNED WITH THE EFFECTS OF HOMOGENEOUS ABILITY GROUPING IN THE SIXTH GRADE. HERE, SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENT AND REPORTED INTEREST IN SCHOOLWORK WERE MATTERS OF CENTRAL INTEREST. THE HYPOTHESIS THAT ABILITY GROUPING WOULD PRODUCE GREATER AROUSAL OF ACHIEVEMENT-RELATED MOTIVATION THAN THE TRADITIONAL CLASS THAT IS HETEROGENEOUS IN ABILITY WAS NOT SUPPORTED BY STUDY A, YET WAS STRONGLY SUPPORTED BY STUDY B. (GD)