This study reviews the literature on the supervisory conference over the past 30 years in order to examine the underlying assumptions about conferences and how they have been incorporated and interpreted by those who have written about supervisory conferences. The review is organized according to the three major components of the conference: the perceived purpose, the relationship between the teacher and the supervisor in the conference situation, and the way in which information and data about the teacher's performance are used during the conference. The permutations within each of these components reveal significant differences in the ways in which the conference is conceived and conducted. Examining these differences allows the variations in underlying assumptions about conferences to surface. Extensive references are supplied. (TE)