A study was conducted to determine whether a particular definition or definitions of reading comprehension were widely held by teachers at the elementary and secondary school levels. One hundred forty-seven teachers responded to a questionnaire ranking eight definitions of reading comprehension from most agreeable to least agreeable. The definitions represented on the questionnaire were: (1) Kenneth Goodman's psycholinguistic model, (2) Wayne Otto's skills approach model, (3) M. C. Wittrock's generative model, (4) Phillip Gough's information processing model, (5) George Miller's chunking model, (6) Jack Holmes's substrata factor model, (7) Russell Stauffer's intellectual functions model, and (8) Robert Ruddell's communication model. Both elementary and secondary school teachers showed a distinct pattern of stated preference for definitions of reading comprehension. The most often chosen definitions represented Stauffer's intellectual functions model and Holmes's substrata factor model--models similar in that they equate reading to an intellectual process akin to thinking. The least chosen definitions represented Miller's chunking model and Otto's skills approach model--models similar in that they represent an isolated skills approach to reading comprehension. The findings are in conflict with observed classroom teaching behavior. (Author/FL)