A study systematically examined the strategy differences between good and poor readers as they summarized what they had read. Subjects, 36 poor and 39 good eighth grade readers and 37 adults, completed tasks to measure their (1) awareness of the task demands involved in producing summaries, (2) ability to identify task important elements in a text, and (3) ability to transform and reduce the full meaning of a text into its gist. Results indicated that most of the eighth grade students were aware of the demands of summarization when measured against the adult standard. However, good and poor readers did differ in what they considered important in a text, in what they included in their summaries of text, and in how they transformed original text. Sensitivity to importance and efficient use of the transformations were significantly related to the ability to produce summaries. Sensitivity to importance was also significantly related to the ability to comprehend what had been read. The findings suggest that when students encounter comprehension difficulties, teachers should assess their use of strategic skills and provide appropriate training. (Materials used in the study are included.) (FL)