Twenty countries are participating in the IEA International Study of Written Composition, for which this is a background report. school-based writing in particular, this report discusses the functions of writing from the point of view of culture, cognition, and child development. It also presents a usable model for constructing and evaluating writing curricula, writing tasks, writing instruction, and textbooks. Covering the domain of writing in its first section, the report discusses the following topics: (1) the origins of writing, (2) the cultural and cognitive impact of writing, (3) the functional relationship between spoken and written language, (4) differences between conversational interactivity and written composition, (5) writing as an act of communication, (6) writing as a cognitive process, (7) the development of writing, and (8) writing in a cultural context. The second section presents a general approach to school-based writing and a model of written discourse and then discusses factors related to school writing: educational objectives, the progression of writing tasks, and rating criteria. Following a conclusion, the report lists extensive references. An abstract and a price list of previous IEA reports are appended (in Finnish); there is also a Finnish version of the Introduction. (MM)