A study investigated the influence of classroom experience on theoretical beliefs about reading as evidenced over a full year elementary classroom internship in a laboratory school setting. Five interns (three females who had just received their bachelors degrees and two males who held masters degrees and were engaged in other occupations prior to entering the program, enrolled in the Masters in Teacher Education program at Eastern Oregon State College during the 1993-94 school year, voluntarily participated in the study. Theoretical orientation was assessed four times during the intern year using the Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile, which categorizes responses into a "phonics,""skills," or "whole language" orientation to reading. Results indicated that: (1) interns' beliefs began at the lower end of the "skills" orientation range in September, and were noticeably varied among individuals; (2) by December, mean scores moved more towards the middle of the skills orientation, and converged considerably among individuals, a trend most likely reflective of similar classroom experiences and orientations; (3) by March, mean scores rose only slightly and were still within the middle of the skills orientation, but variability among individuals increased, most likely reflective of the combination of "theory" and "practice"; and (4) by the end of the internship, mean scores remained virtually the same, still within the middle of the skills range, with variability among individuals decreasing somewhat. (Contains two tables and two figures of data.) (RS)