Based on the perception that teacher educators deliver preparation programs which have little influence on the way graduates actually teach and that they are completely out of touch with the actual teaching conditions in contemporary schools, a survey was conducted to see what activities teachers felt were most relevant for reading methods classes and most practical for classroom teachers. Subjects were 100 teachers, from each of the first, third, and fifth grades in Kansas elementary schools. The activities found most important for methods classes were working on an individual basis with a child in a reading practicum involving diagnosis, analysis and remediation, and knowing how to teach a lesson. Analyzing basal series for multicultural elements and effect on exceptional children was ranked least important. The elementary classroom activity ranked most important was developing a case report on a child, while least important was administering readability formulas. A second survey asked 40 Kansas college professors to rank the same activities, and they ranked developing goals for reading instruction most important for both methods classes and actual classroom situations. They found administering readability formulas least important for methods classes, and evaluating basal series least important for classroom situations. (SKC)