Fifty-two families of students successful in public school and 40 families of students requiring alternative school programs completed self-report instruments on their perceptions of parent-adolescent communication and family functioning. The alternative school programs included residential and day treatment programs for adolescents with emotional difficulties, delinquency, poor school performance, discipline problems, or low self-esteem. Instruments used were the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale III and the Parent Adolescent Communication Scale. The public school (PS) parents, adolescents, and families all reported their communications as more positive and open than did their alternative school (AS) counterparts. No significant differences were found between the two groups on adaptability. In the area of cohesion, however, there was a striking difference: 75% of the AS families described themselves as functioning in the disengaged interval compared to 19% of the PS families. There was significantly less discrepancy between the real and ideal cohesion measures for PS fathers, mothers, adolescents, and families than for their AS counterparts. It is concluded that the two assessment instruments successfully identified families where students are at risk for school failure, and that clinicians should consider the area of family cohesion and family communication as special goals in treatment plans. The appendices provide data tables, a bibliography, and instruments used in the research. (JDD)