The administrators' and teachers' manual for the New York State Preliminary Competency Test in Reading provides information on the student population to be tested; the degrees of reading power (DRP) methodology to measure students' reading comprehension; the test content; and the state reference point, a cutoff score expressed in terms of readability which identifies students who need remediation. Instructions are also given for notifying parents and students about test results and for required record keeping. Also included are guidelines for organizing reading programs; assisting students who score below the cutoff; and using test results to facilitate student learning. Simple letters to be sent to parents indicating test scores are appended. (MH)