Kindergarten children from 17 Los Angeles, California, schools were the subjects in a research project designed to measure the effects of a structured prereading program. The program emphasized six types of reading skills: (1) listening for comprehension, (2) listening for auditory discrimination, (3) visual discrimination, (4) oral language skills, (5) motor perceptual skills, and (6) sound-symbol correspondence. The skills were taught in small groups and with independent activities according to specific instructions in teachers' manuals. The children were divided into matched experimental and control groups representing varied socioeconomic backgrounds. A wide variety of supplemental materials was used. Group reciting, creative story telling, music activities, games, and field trips were some of the activities used in teaching reading skills. Analysis of reading readiness test results showed that (1) experimental groups did significantly better than control groups, (2) girls as a group did significantly better than boys, (3) white children did significantly better than Mexican-American children who in turn did better than black children, and (4) experimental groups of Mexican-American children and black children did significantly better than white control groups. Tables and references are included. (AL)