The purposes of this study were (1) to devise two forms of an instrument for measuring the listening ability of first, second, and third graders; (2) to test the instrument on students and teachers; and (3) to measure the reliability of the instrument. To obtain objective data concerning the listening ability of young children (6-9), four subproblems were examined: (1) the relationship of listening ability to intelligence and achievement and the relative listening abilities of (2) males and females, (3) first, second, and third graders, and (4) black and white students. The listening skills measured (comprehension, interpretation, and evaluation) were derived from Bloom's taxonomy. The listening test was administered to 453 white and 255 black primary school children by their own teachers. Achievement was measured by the Stanford Achievement Tests and intelligence by the Kuhlman-Anderson Test. Analysis of the data indicated that listening ability correlated more highly with achievement than with the intelligence measure. There was no difference in the listening scores of males and females. There was a significant, but not unexpected, difference in scores obtained by students in each grade level. An extremely significant difference revealed that black children were about one standard deviation below white children as measured by these listening ability instruments. (MH)