This study compared reading and writing demands at a city high school and an urban university across the following disciplines: biology, English, history, and political science. Analysis revealed five generalizations concerning high school disciplines: (1) in-class activities and student requirements for courses are tied to the course text which defines the content to be learned; (2) classes tend to be highly participatory, with a great deal of student/instructor exchange and student interaction with course text; (3) high school courses show a high level of integration of language and study skills with course content; (4) cognitive demands of high school courses tend to be knowledge, comprehension, and application (as opposed to the higher demands of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation); and (5) teachers are accountable for student performance on a number of standardized exams causing these exams to determine much of what teachers do in content classes. Analysis of university reading and writing demands across disciplines revealed that these demands vary, but except for composition, little writing is required, and when it is, its focus is on content and not on form. Cognitive demands of college courses are embedded in the reading and writing requirements. Finally, exams are the focus of a course for many students because exams are the way in which students discern the reading and writing requirements of a course. (GLR)