Discusses one student's persistence in misunderstanding her teacher's written comments on her papers. Notes that student and teacher bring different sets of information, skills, and values to each written response episode, and that mismatched expectations can occur even with high-achieving students. (SKC)

Suggests general changes in the standard reading and writing curricula and examines the language of writing instruction, in college level individual writing conferences, to take a closer look at issues involved in implementing the curricula for higher and lower achieving students. (FL)

Studies secondary school classrooms in Great Britain and the United States, revealing that, when teachers apply similar theories to everyday practice, important pedagogical contrasts illustrate the ways in which instruction is organized and in what students produce. Finds that, in classrooms with the most highly involved interactions, students…