The problem investigated in this study was to determine the best combination of tests or subtests in a research battery which, when administered to beginning first-grade students, would enable the most efficient prediction of reading achievement. A total of 1052 children were randomly selected from first-grade classrooms within the State of Missouri. These children completed a battery of tests consisting of the following: the Cognitive Abilities Tests; the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration; the Pre-Reading Screening Procedures; the Stanford Early School Achievement Test; the Alphabet and Numbers subtest of the Metropolitan Readiness Tests; the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts; and the Behavior Rating Scale. The findings of this study led to the following conclusions: (1) the ability to recognize upper- and lower-case letters and beginning sounds was the best single predictor of reading achievement; (2) measured intelligence, when statistically compared with the other variables in the study, was a reliable predictor of reading achievement; and (3) classroom teachers can predict end-of-year reading achievement of their students by using the Behavior Rating Scale. (Author/LL)