A study examined whether a correlation exists between the number of years of experience and professional development that a teacher has and the gain in the classroom's average of total reading scores. Teachers participating in the study were the instructors of the three fourth-grade units of a lower-to-middle class socioeconomic elementary school in Kentucky, in their 23rd, 7th, and 2nd years of teaching, respectively. Using a Pearson r to compare the gains in total reading to the years of experience and staff development, it was found that a correlation does exist. It was concluded that teachers who stay in the profession gain knowledge of teaching and assemble strategies over the years to make them more productive and effective. (Contains 2 tables of data and 10 references.) (SR)