Focusing on the teaching of comprehension strategies, this paper describes studies designed to identify settings in which effective strategies instruction was being carried out and details the conclusions that can be drawn from the studies. The paper begins with a description of comprehension strategies instruction in the 1970s and 1980s. The paper then discusses a series of qualitative studies undertaken of two successful comprehension strategies instructional programs--the Benchmark School in Media, Pennsylvania which serves high-ability elementary students who experience difficulties in learning to read, and the Montgomery County, Maryland, public schools program, Students Achieving Independent Learning (SAIL), created for Chapter 1 students. The paper then analyzes the instruction in terms of its transactional qualities, its place among constructivist theories of learning, and with regard to theories of intelligent assistance. The paper also includes teachers' ideas about how comprehension strategies instruction might be made more effective. It concludes with a discussion of three directions for future research: better instruction at the primary level, teacher development, and strategies across the curricula and school day. Contains 97 references. (RS)