Results from the first and second rounds of the reading assessment conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress are discussed and compared, with conclusions based on comments by a panel of six reading specialists. Changes in reading ability between the 1970-1971 and 1974-1975 school years are dependent on the age of the pupils and the type of reading required. For nine-year-olds, improvement was recorded in all reading skills, but was most noteworthy in reference skills. Black nine-year-olds improved even more dramatically than did nine-year-olds as a whole, which the panel suggested might be attributed to successful intervention programs in the primary grades. Reading ability at ages 13 and 17 changed little. Both ages improved slightly in literal comprehension but declined in inferential comprehension. Students of all ages demonstrated little difficulty in comprehending literal, straight-forward written material, but comprehension dropped off quickly as soon as the tasks became more difficult. Girls read better than did boys, at all age levels. (Author/AA) Primary type of information provided by report: Results (Change) (Selective).