The purposes of this study were (1) to ascertain whether there were significant differences in reading achievement scores within first-grade children who have and who have not had preschool group experiences, and (2) to follow up these first-grade students through the fifth grade to determine if any significant differences were retained, or occurred later, as the children progressed through school. Preschool experience status was indicated by teachers on the Student Information Questionnaire used by the North Carolina Annual Testing Program. Reading scores for first and second grades were obtained from the Prescriptive Reading Inventory, administered in the spring of 1978 and 1979. Reading scores for third through fifth grades were obtained from the California Achievement Tests, administered in the spring of 1980, 1981, and 1982. Comparisons for 386 Durham County Public School students were made using the t-test for uncorrelated samples. While no significant differences were found in the reading scores of preschool and nonpreschool groups in the first grade, significant differences in favor of the preschool group were found at the .05 level in the second grade, at the .01 level in the third grade, and at the .001 level in both the fourth and fifth grades. Directions for further research are suggested. (Author/RH)