This study took place in an independent all girls' school which serves over six hundred students in grades pre-kindergarten through twelve. This study seeks to answer the question: To what extent do teachers use questions to encourage deeper thinking and fuller responses. Through a review of literature, observations, interviews and analysis, this study also examines the how teachers use knowledge of the levels of questions and wait time as a teaching technique. A students' ability to articulate understanding and their own point of view is valued by faculty in my school. The skill of holding one's own in classroom discussions and clear articulation of thought is important. The expectation is for students in every grade to have the self-confidence and to develop the knowledge base to thoughtfully respond to questions during class discussions. In a preliminary study I looked at how students are able to incorporate ways of interacting and responding in the classroom. I wanted to know what framework teachers brought into their classroom practice and whether teachers made space for students to talk together and make their thoughts visible to other students. During the preliminary study I found mixed results. While all teachers valued the conversational model only about half of the teachers in the pilot study employed it. In the second year of the study the methodology included interviews and structured observations using the Gallagher/Aschner Bloom Classification System. This system measures how often a teacher asks low or high order convergent versus the times the teacher asks low or high divergent questions. Observations of teachers were conducted in fourth and sixth grade classes during reading or language arts instruction. Student responses to questions posed by the teacher were categorized according to the systematic observation system. The data analysis focused on the types of questions teachers. The interviews allowed teachers to share impressions of the questioning techniques employed. The Discussion Section includes a comparison of the participants, a discussion of how their use questions in their classroom and a commentary on the consistency between their expressed beliefs and actual classroom observations. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]