Using a subsample of data relating to 4,668 first- and second-graders and their families from the 1991 National Household Education Survey, a study examined different ways of measuring whether a child is behind in grade and compared these measures with data about children who are below modal grade levels. Several profiles emerged. Children delayed in starting kindergarten tended to be non-black boys, born in the second half of the year, who lived in the Midwest, and whose parents had at least a high school education. Children who repeated kindergarten tended to be boys, born in the second half of the year, who lived in the South or West, and who did not attend preschool. Children who repeated first grade tended to be black boys, who did not attend preschool, and who lived in low-income households. Children below modal grade level tended to be those in the above three categories (56 percent) as well as children who had neither delayed entry into school nor repeated kindergarten or first grade (42 percent). The profile that dominates in this case is one of non-black boys, born in the third quarter of the year, who live in the South or Midwest, who did not attend preschool, and who had low household income. (MDM)