A study examined the revisions made in expressive and persuasive compositions by 14 good and 14 average writers in grades 5, 7, and 11 to determine if grade- or ability-related differences occurred in the quality and kinds of revisions made and if revisions differed for the two types of compositions. Students wrote compositions one day and revised them a few days later. Revisions were categorized as formal, word level, phrase level, clause level, sentence level, and multisentence level. Results showed no differences in revisions for the two composition types. There was a trend at grade 11, only, for good students to make fewer formal revisions and more revisions of other kinds than average students. There was a significant decrease in formal revisions from grade 5 to grade 11; otherwise, the number of revisions made at the various levels by grade 5 students was very similar to the number made by grade 11 students. Grade 7 students, however, made significantly fewer revisions than did grade 5 or grade 11 students. The findings provide little evidence for age-related or ability-related differences detectable by tallying revisions of the kinds examined. (Author/FL)