When college freshmen are required to write, it seems that they operate under several values that appear to be perpetuated by schooling and should be addressed. It is important to realize that the contexts for writing of middle school students and college freshmen are virtually identical. The first comparable value is speed--the rapid expression of information signals the academic competence of the communicator. The second value is image, which includes neatness and verbal convention as important features of communication, and the third is silence, as the atmosphere in which teaching and learning are thought to be most successful. In addition, students are seen not as composers, but as recorders of the teacher's closure. In recognizing and understanding these values, it is necessary to allow time and flexibility for students and teachers to come to shared interpretations of assignments, thus ensuring success unrelated to speed and quick thinking. Also, students should write in a community that values writing, one in which the teacher is convinced of its value, peers are trained in its value, and student writers discover their own closure. Finally, collaborations preclude silences. (CRH)