Due to House Bill (HB) 3, passed by the 86th Legislature, Texas public independent school districts are mandated to assess early childhood students using a universal screener. This bill focuses on forming high-quality educational programs and improving reading success in pre-kindergarten through third grade. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) indicators reveal only thirty-eight percent of third-grade students meet an acceptable proficiency standard in reading achievement (TEA, 2021). Therefore, there is a critical need to invest in early childhood literacy data and intervention. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a relationship exists between kindergarten reading readiness assessments (based on TX-KEA) and first-grade reading achievement (based on TPRI) involving one central Texas school district. Quantitative data were analyzed to determine the strength of the relationship between the TX-KEA overall literacy screener, the TX-KEA literacy screener sub-tests, and the TPRI literacy screener sub-tests. Qualitative data were analyzed to identify the key foundational literacy skills needed for early elementary students to have positive impacts on future reading success. The results of this study revealed that first-grade reading achievement as assessed by the TPRI literacy screener is positively and statistically significantly correlated with the kindergarten literacy skills as assessed by the TX-KEA literacy screener. The results indicated that early childhood educators utilizing assessment data from the TX-KEA literacy screener to determine students' needs, implementing best practice instruction in the National Reading Panel's (2000) five pillars of literacy, and intervening in identified student skill deficiencies as assessed by the TX-KEA literacy screener could have a significant impact on first-grade reading achievement. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]