A 3-year study attempted (1) to predict reading achievement through third grade, (2) to establish data for a nonverbal discrimination test, (3) to devise supplementary perceptual instructional programs, and (4) to develop screening devices to assess perceptual abilities and identify potential learning disabilities. In first, second, and third grades 140 Negro and white children of lower and middle class backgrounds were administered a battery of auditory and visual perceptual tests. The children had the same reading program and took a reading achievement test in first grade and at the end of third grade. Correlations between tests of nonverbal auditory and visual perception and reading achievement remained significantly high and rather constant over the 3-year period. The best predictor of reading ability was the Test of Non-Verbal Auditory Discrimination, but all perceptual tests were more effective than IQ measures. By using group-administered, nonverbal auditory and visual perception tests, it is possible to identify children's potential in reading achievement at the beginning of first grade, and to develop special instructional methods for children with perceptual problems. (MH)