This book, a series of essays developed at a working conference on the integration of reading and writing, surveys the historical, cultural, situational and social forces that keep the teaching of writing separate, skew the curriculum to favor reading over writing, and discourage development of pedagogies that integrate the language arts; examines the cognitive processes and strategies writers and readers use outside of school to develop and express their ideas; and discusses the challenge teachers face--to help students develop skills for reading and writing without isolating those skills from meaningful tasks and letting students forget the reasons for these activities. The book contains the following chapters: Chapter 1, "On Collaboration" (Anne Haas Dyson); Chapter 2, Introduction (James Moffett) and "A Sisyphean Task: Historical Perspectives on Writing and Reading Instruction" (Geraldine Joncich Clifford); Chapter 3, Introduction (Guadalupe Valdes) and "Writing and Reading in the Community" (Robert Gundlach and others); Chapter 4, Introduction (Sandra Murphy) and "The Problem-Solving Processes of Writers and Readers" (Ann S. Rosebery and others); Chapter 5, Introduction (Wallace Chafe) and "Writing and Reading Working Together" (Robert J. Tierney and others); Chapter 6, Introduction (Mary K. Healy) and "Writing-and-Reading in the Classroom" (James Britton); and Chapter 7, "The Writing-Reading Connection: Taking Off the Handcuffs" (Art Peterson). (MS)