A study investigated Chapter 1 students' activities and experiences during the time allocated to reading instruction. Subjects, 119 fourth and fifth grade students in a large city school system (66 subjects receiving remedial instruction in an in-class setting and 53 in a pullout setting), were observed systematically over a four-month period while receiving reading instruction from their remedial reading specialists. Results indicated that: (1) setting, as it was implemented in this district, had an impact on how remedial reading specialists organized lessons, on what students experienced, and on the behaviors of the students within that setting; (2) congruence between the curriculum and instruction of developmental teachers and reading specialists was greater in the in-class than pullout programs, although the nature and extent varied greatly within the various in-class settings; (3) across both settings, the reading program appeared to be similar to what could be called a traditional skills-focused curriculum; and (4) none of the instructional variables that were hypothesized to predict reading achievement reached statistical significance. Findings suggest that although the nature of instruction did not appear to influence achievement, there were differences in the amount of total instructional time and in instructional behaviors, lesson focus, and reading behaviors experienced by the students in the in-class or pullout programs. (One figure and 11 tables of data are included; 30 references are attached.) (RS)