SKAT is part of an automated, self‐administered preschool screening battery for vision, IQ, and readiness. SKAT was designed to detect educationally significant hearing and discrimination problems. Sixteen CVC words were selected for familiarity to preschoolers. The words were grouped into sets of four. All words in a given set had the same vowel; consonants differed. The four pictures for a set were displayed together on a rear‐projection screen. A response button was located beside each picture. Words were presented through TDH‐49 earphones. To reduce testing time, conditioning was limited to naming each picture once. When testing began, the S was instructed to press the button next to, e.g., “pot.” A new display and new word were presented when S responded, or after 6 sec. Twelve words per ear were presented at varying intensities: four each at 55, 50, and 45 dB SPL, randomly. Standard puretone (Malco Audiometer) screening was administered to 61 Ss,K‐2. Each S self‐administered SKAT in 3.5 min, average time. Six Ss (10%) failed both procedures. Three (5%) failed SKAT, but passed pure tone. In similar studies, more false negatives and false positives have been reported for the VASC and Fading Numbers Test.