The Preschool Academic Skills Test was developed from an analysis of first-grade reading and mathematics materials to identify those behaviors that were assumed to be in students' repertoires prior to first grade. The 105 items are grouped in 10 subtests: Vocabulary, Color Naming, Classification, Functional Relationships, Visual Matching, Auditory Matching, Picture Arrangement, Symbol Series, Counting, and Verbal Concepts . The test was administered to 428 4-year-olds from impoverished neighborhoods, to 326 middle-class 4-year-olds from private nursery schools, and to 120 5-year olds. Statistical analysis of the subtests showed the reliability of the total test score and the subtest scores to be very high. The compared test performances indicated that nondeprived children did better than deprived children; that kindergarten children did better than preschool children; and that girls did better than boys. Subtest intercorrelations were obtained for each of the subgroups. To determine the predictive validity, correlations were made among test results on this instrument given at the beginning of kindergarten and on the Detroit IQ Test given at the end of kindergarten, the Metropolitan Readiness Test given at the beginning of first grade, and the Metropolitan Achievement Test at the end of first grade. Tables are included. (CM)