A study investigated the attitudes and beliefs of three groups of third- and fourth-grade classroom teachers (special education pull-out, bilingual credentialed, and bilingual waivered, n=18 per group) concerning the reading assessment of Latino language minority students. Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews, a written questionnaire, classroom observation, and analysis of documents and classroom products related to assessment. Results show, in general, a discrepancy between the beliefs of these teachers and those underlying many of the new educational initiatives in assessment and instruction. In addition, clear differences between the groups were found, with the special education teachers' attitudes most removed from these pedagogical developments. Variance in teacher beliefs and practices occurred both within groups and within individuals, with few cases in which beliefs and practices were entirely consistent. These findings imply that educational reform will require not only a change in practices, but also adoption of a fundamentally different paradigmatic belief system. Contains 83 references. (MSE)