Based on data obtained from a random sample of United States schools in 1970, this monograph reports achievements in reading speed, comprehension, and word knowledge and in literary understanding, interpretation, and interest of American students aged 9, 14, and 17. The monograph also contains demographic information on teachers, permitting a profile of the secondary school English teacher. Various sections of the monograph discuss the following: (1) the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) studies in reading and literature conducted in 14 countries, which form the basis of this analysis; (2) what United States teachers of reading and literature reported about themselves; (3) student achievement in reading and literature; and (4) student response to literature. Extensive appendixes contain copies of the IEA reading comprehension and literature tests, along with student and teacher questionnaires, the Rasch Analysis of Reading, discriminant analysis tables for student responses to literature, and discriminant analysis with rigid axes rotation for literature teacher curricular patterns. (FL)