Technical characteristics of the Reading Essential Skill Screener--Preschool Version (RESS-P) were studied using four independent samples of boys and girls aged 3-5 years. A decision efficiency study (N = 91) resulted in a total predictive value (TPV) of .85 when compared with the criterion of teacher report/judgment of emerging literacy at-risk status [sensitivity = 0.93, specificity = 0.76, positive predictive power (PPP) = 0.79, and negative predictive power (NPP) = 0.92]. Item difficulty (median = 0.53) and item discrimination (median = 0.56) indicated overall adequate item selection characteristics. Principal-components analysis resulted in a four-factor extraction, slightly modifying the theoretical structure underlying the RESS-P. Inter-item consistency was r = 0.93 (N = 738) and r = 0.92 (N = 175), while 30-day test-retest reliability was r = 0.89 (N = 119). The RESS-P yielded concurrent validity coefficients (N = 175) of r = 0.89 with the Test of Early Reading Ability--2nd edition (TERA-2), r = 0.80 with the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI), r = 0.79 with the Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test- Revised (EOWPVT-R), and r = 0.60 and r = 0.50, with the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills (TVPS) Discrimination and Figure-Ground subtests, respectively. Policy and practice implications were discussed. (Contains 10 tables and 1 figure.)