ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses factors, other than family environment, which are associated with the differential ability and school adaptation observed among our subjects in midadolescence. The general finding of this investigation was that, in early adolescence, individuals characterized by patterns of academically oriented choices and high aspiration for further education were also characterized by patterns of high ability and high achievement. However, certain of the age-13 girls were characterized by a disparity between their present choices, which were oriented toward an academic curriculum, and their aspiration for further education beyond compulsory school, which was below average. However, the extremely low achievement, self-perceived ability, and school adaptation that characterized the Low-Adapted, Low-Ability Non-Achievers might have prevented the girls in this final subgroup from adapting to even the least rigorous educational demands, although they, too, were almost unanimously represented among the Low-Aspiring Practicals.
