This study compared the academic progress of children who had been recommended for and attended a Readiness program with those children whose parents had declined the Readiness program placement for their children. Participating were 215 students chosen over an 11 year period who had been recommended for a Readiness program and a comparison group of 39 students who had not received such a recommendation. Results indicated that 26 parents did not give a reason for refusing the Readiness placement, and 23 parents stated that their child was ready for the first grade. Boys were referred to Readiness programs twice as often as girls, with a greater proportion of parents of girls refusing placement. Students who had attended kindergarten were somewhat less likely to be recommended for Readiness programs than children who had not attended kindergarten. Children whose parents accepted the Readiness placement had a greater discrepancy between their chronological and developmental ages than did children whose parents refused the placement. A higher percentage of Readiness refusal students received special services than Readiness students; the number of special services received by the two groups did not differ. Readiness students required more special services than non-Readiness students. About three-quarters of Readiness refusal students were performing at grade level by grade 3, but 69 percent had received special services. A group of six students who did not attend kindergarten, were young developmentally, did not have Readiness education, and were not on grade level by grade 3 were identified as a risk group. (KB)