Sixty skilled and 60 less-skilled readers were tested for oral reading skills at the end of one, two, and three years of reading instruction, to study the acquisition of reading fluency. A 3 x 2 x 3 ANOVA was used to analyze the influence of years of practice and instruction, reading skill, and levels of word accuracy on oral reading fluency. Results indicated that each of the variables investigated had a significant influence on reading fluency. The relationship between comprehension and fluency scores was significant in each sample but was greatest at the end of the first and second years. Differences between skilled and less-skilled readers appeared to be best explained within an automatic information process theory of reading. (Author/AA)