One population at risk of academic failure comprises students who are of average ability, but who score significantly higher in nonverbal aptitude than verbal aptitude. Careful identification and instructional intervention can help these students to perform better. The findings of two studies are presented. The first study was conducted in 1964 among black sixth graders in an urban elementary school in Richmond (Virginia). The findings demonstrate that the verbal aptitude scores improved significantly when the students were given a planned program of verbal experiences. The second study was conducted in 1985 among 100 eighth graders, black students and white, from four rural and one urban school division in central Virginia. An analysis was made of the cognitive task performance of students with various levels of verbal and nonverbal functioning. Students with higher verbal scores performed better on tasks involving semantic content such as reading, language, social studies, and science. Those with higher nonverbal scores performed better on tasks involving symbolic content such as some multi-step mathematics problems. The conclusions are that teachers must be aware of the verbal orientation of students and must provide courses of instruction which will use the students' strengths to ameliorate their weaknesses. Three tables and an appendix are included. Fifty-three references are listed. (VM)