THE ASSUMPTIONS, PROCEDURES, AND IMPACT OF THE 1958 CONFERENCE ON BASIC ISSUES IN THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AND THE DARTMOUTH SEMINAR OF 1966 ARE COMPARED. A SHORT HISTORY OF THE EARLIER CONFERENCE AND THE ISSUES RAISED THEN INDICATE THE WAYS IN WHICH IT WAS BOTH REPRESENTATIVE OF ITS TIMES AND PROPHETIC OF FUTURE PROBLEMS. THREE SHIFTS IN THE EDUCATIONAL SCENE--INFLUENCED BY JEROME BRUNER'S "THE PROCESS OF EDUCATION," THE INCREASING ROLE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN AMERICAN EDUCATION, AND A "REDISCOVERY" OF THE AMERICAN LOWER CLASS AND THE SHARP DIFFERENTIATION AMONG CLASS DIALECTS--PROVIDED A QUITE DIFFERENT SETTING TO THE DARTMOUTH SEMINAR. DESPITE MANY SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE CONCERNS OF THE TWO CONFERENCES, THE INFLUENCE OF THESE THREE CHANGES IS REFLECTED IN SOME CONCLUSIONS OF THE DARTMOUTH SEMINAR. (1) WITH RESPECT TO LITERATURE, THE CONTENT-CENTERED APPROACH OF THE BASIC ISSUES CONFERENCE WAS REPLACED BY EMPHASES ON STUDENT EXPERIENCE AND INVOLVEMENT AND ON A CONCEPT OF ENGLISH AS AN OPERATIONAL DISCIPLINE. (2) THE IDEA OF IMPOSING A STATIC AND EXTERNAL CURRICULUM ON THE SCHOOLS SOLELY IN THE INTEREST OF CONTINUITY WAS REJECTED. (3) BECAUSE A SOUND, CONSCIOUS KNOWLEDGE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IS IMPORTANT, TEACHERS NEED TO BE RETRAINED AND THE CURRICULUM REVISED. THIS ARTICLE IS A REPRINT FROM "PMLA," VOLUME 82, NUMBER 4, SEPTEMBER 1967, PAGES 8-13. (BN)