Curriculum analyses, written by professional reading educators, of the 1978 Illinois Inventory of Educational Progress (IIEP) results, and teacher expectations regarding reading are presented. A random sample of 7,200 Illinois students (grades 4, 8, 11) within 360 schools were tested; results reflected their educational performance in reading items employing content drawn from literature (53%), life skills (29%), social science material (14%), and science (4%). The items tested literal comprehension (80%), inferential comprehension (16%), and interpretive comprehension (4%). General conclusions emerging from the curricular analyses included: (1) students have gained reading proficiency as they progressed through school; (2) students have learned to read for literal comprehension by grade 4; (3) scores for grades 8 and 11 were highest on material related to everyday life; (4) high scores were related to simple vocabulary, syntax, context, and content; (5) low scores were traceable to unfamiliar vocabulary or a lack of thoughtful analysis. Comparisons were made between teachers' expectations and student performance across grade levels. Teachers of grades 4 and 8 were accurate in their estimation of student performance, but grade 11 teachers underestimated student performance on 14 of the 17 objectives tested. (RL)