A study identified individuals' beliefs about learning and practices in reading and the degree of congruence between the two. Sixty-two undergraduate elementary and special education majors enrolled in the first of three reading methods courses completed the Reading Beliefs Inventory (RBI). In the first part of the RBI, consisting of 10 categories with statements representing three psychological-philosophical views, subjects selected the one statement that most closely matched their personal beliefs. The categories were definition of man, motivation, learning conditions, social learning, intellectual development, knowledge, instruction, curriculum, organization, and evaluation. In the second part of the RBI, consisting of 12 paragraphs describing an instructional situation along with possible teacher reactions representing three models of reading, subjects again chose the one closest to their personal beliefs. The 12 categories in this section consisted of defining the reading process, beginning reading, context clues, new vocabulary, phonics, sight vocabulary, meaningful word parts, developing a meaning vocabulary, oral versus silent reading, comprehension, materials, and attitudes. Results indicated that undergraduate elementary and special education majors generally held beliefs about education that were cognitive in nature. Three pages of references and tables of data are appended. (HOD)