This study grew out of an objective of the Upper Cumberland Reading Project, funded under Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and serving 13 Appalachian counties of Tennessee. The objectives called for development of a diagnostic test especially suited to the needs of rural mountain children to be used by teachers as an aid to grouping pupils for reading instruction. The lexical cloze technique was applied to selection judged representative of the language and experiences of children in grades 1 through 12. Pupils participating in a longitudinal evaluation of the effectiveness of other Title III teaching techniques at two demonstration schools were administered Language Experience Approach (LEA) cloze tests in March 1973, and again in March 1974. Raw scores on the locally-made instrument were compared with those of the same pupils on reading related subtests of the Stanford Achievement Test, given in 1973. It was concluded that the LEA instrument had potential as a quickly administered, easily scored test of comprehension--based on the pupils' own idioms and experiences--for use by teachers in forming instructional groups. (WR)