Compiled from the three-week English Coalition conference of 60 leaders in the English teaching profession, this report examines the way English and the language arts are taught at all levels of education today, and the problems in society and education that interfere with learning. Conferees represented the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and its constituent groups for college teachers of writing, high school English department chairs, and teacher educators; the Modern Language Association (MLA) and its affiliated Association of Departments of English; the College English Association, and the College Language Department. Areas discussed in the report include: (1) the teacher's role in the English classroom; (2) curriculum goals and emphases at all levels; (3) literacy education; and (4) recommendations for change in education. Resolutions proposed by various coalition subgroups and approved in general terms by the conference participants are also included in the report, and concern the place of media studies in the English/language arts curriculum, English as a foreign language, tracking in elementary and secondary schools, testing and assessment, teacher education and professional growth, the rights and responsibilities of students and teachers, and current conditions for the teaching of writing in colleges and universities. The report also includes a series of concrete illustrations of the problems and practices dealt with in the resolutions, as well as bibliographies on the issues, conditions, and concepts that figure in the report. A diary of conference events and a list of participants are also included. (MM)