Battery of tests for prekindergarten to first grade that assesses the development of language and mathematical skills necessary for early school learning.

The Metropolitan Readiness Tests are a widely used battery of tests for prekindergarten to first grade. These tests assess the development of language and mathematical skills necessary for early school learning. They are generally used not as an admissions test but as an aid to class placement and sometimes to help determine promotion to the first or second grade. The tests, which can be administered individually or in groups, take 80 to 100 minutes and are given in four to seven sittings. There are two different forms, or levels, which partially overlap. Level One, which assesses pre-reading abilities, is used with four-year-olds in preschool but may also be given up to the middle of kindergarten. It consists of subtests (called composites) evaluating auditory memory, beginning consonants, letter recognition, visual matching, school language and listening, and quantitative language. Level Two, which measures skills needed for beginning reading and mathematics, is used from the middle of kindergarten to early in the first grade. Skills assessed include beginning consonants, sound-letter correspondence, visual matching, finding patterns, school language, listening, quantitative concepts, and quantitative operations. Results of the Metropolitan Readiness Tests are reported as a raw score, a national performance rating, and a percentile ranking.

For Further Study

Books

Cohen, Libby G., and Loraine J. Spenciner. Assessment of Young Children. New York: Longman, 1994.

McCullough, Virginia. Testing and Your Child: What You Should Know About 150 of the Most Common Medical, Educational and Psychological Tests. New York: Plume, 1992.

Wortham, Sue Clark. Tests and Measurement in Early Childhood Education, Columbus: Merrill Publishing Co., 1990.