The purposes of this study were to identify teacher competencies and practices recommended by authorities for promoting interest in reading, and to determine if there were any observable differences in students' reporting of the amount of books read and "really liked" between classes whose teachers were ranked high in competencies and practices, and classes whose teachers were ranked low. Nine grade 5 and seven grade 6 teachers and their 414 students were involved in the investigation which measured 17 practices associated with knowledge of (1) a wide range of children's books, (2) children's interests, (3) how to set the stage for the love of reading, and (4) what distinguishes a good book from a poor one. Conclusions were that (1) the instruments used to measure teacher performance were insensitive to many variables affecting student reading enjoyment; (2) the order of middle and high ranked teachers did not correlate with the number of books read and enjoyed by students; (3) the instrument did isolate the teachers who seldom followed the recommendations, with students of low-ranked teachers reporting fewer books read and enjoyed; and (4) although some teachers follow authorities' recommendations, a gap exists between these suggestions and actual teacher practices. (Author/JMC)