The first section of this paper discusses various approaches used in providing feedback on student writing performance. It identifies four categories of feedback--positive versus negative, task-related versus task-unrelated, moderate versus extensive, and teacher-provided versus student-provided--and reports research findings related to each category. The paper then reports on a study in which 82 prospective and experienced elementary language arts and secondary English teachers were assessed regarding their practices in, and attitudes toward, providing feedback to students. Analysis of the results indicated that the majority of the subjects provided feedback that was negative, task-unrelated, extensive, and teacher-provided; that the majority of subjects believed that the types of feedback that were effective were positive, task-related, moderate, and teacher-provided; that the majority showed discrepancies between attitudes and practices; that more of the experienced than of the inexperienced teachers showed openness to alternative types of feedback; and that more prospective elementary teachers than prospective secondary teachers showed openness to alternatives. (GW)