This booklet describes in detail the research phase and the subsequent innovations of the investigation of school readiness in 6- and 7-year-old Polish children. The research focused on three problems: (1) to discover reliable methods of evaluating school readiness; (2) to state relations between the child's developmental level and environmental conditions, so that abilities to gain individual experience may be predicted; and (3) to examine forms of educational activities in the preschool period in order to find those that most effectively stimulate developmental processes. A test for school readiness was then devised and generally accepted by the primary school teachers in Poland. A description of the campaign for, and reactions against, educational innovation; criticisms of the readiness test; a discussion on starting school early; and a review of the country's school readiness literature are included. (ST)