This study explores older adolescents' linguistic resources, specifically academic vocabulary knowledge, in the context of factors that can impact their academic success and risk of dropping out of school. The data resulted from a collaboration among professional development personnel, teachers, and university researchers. Eleventh and twelfth grade students (N = 310) were administered measures of three dimensions of academic word knowledge. Academic word knowledge explained significant variance in reading, math, science, and writing. Furthermore, students' risk categories correlated with all measures, suggesting that efforts to support academic vocabulary for adolescents should be part of comprehensive interventions to help adolescents navigate academic risk.