Thirty-five disadvantaged Negro 4-year-olds were observed by one or the other of two white male child psychiatrists during a 30-minute play session. After the session, the observer dictated a descriptive summary of the session. He filled out a rating scale on aspects of the child's behavior, including speech and play behavior, nature of social interaction, interest in play materials, ability to focus attention, inferences about his previous experience with caretakers, and general developmental assessment rating. Eighteen months later typed copies of the dictated summaries were distributed to the two observers and to five independent judges, all of whom were psychoanalytically oriented. Analysis of the ratings suggests that pre-entrance ratings do provide information for readiness groupings and can be made on the basis of the child's response to a new adult and his interaction with preschool materials. The stability of the observers' two sets of ratings was high, as was agreement between observers, agreement among the five independent judges, and agreement between observers and judges. Finally, it is suggested that grouping children into competence groups, based on ratings by experienced observers, will facilitate preschool program planning and make children more accessible to growth through preschool experience. (MH)