A study examined student-teacher writing conferences in a ninth grade English class to uncover what significance this form of instruction has both as a collaborative methodology and as a factor in individualizing the process of learning to write in the secondary school. Subjects included a successful ninth grade English teacher at a public high school in the San Francisco area and six students representing the range of ethnic diversity, gender ratio, and achievement level of the generally academically motivated, college-bound students attending the high school. During the 7-week period of observation, all classroom activities were recorded on video and audio tape and all student writing (drafts, outlines, peer group response, tests, teacher comments) concerning the three major papers completed were collected. Subjects were also interviewed twice. The data were analyzed by performing a descriptive quantitative discourse analysis across cases and a descriptive case study of one student across time. Results indicated that students need to participate in conferences of different lengths, with different purposes, and with different tasks. Results also indicated that patterns of dominance in the conferences shift as the tasks vary and that writing conferences promote the development of the student as a writer. Findings suggest the potential of the secondary school classroom to support dialogic learning as a means of individualizing the process of learning to write. (Forty-four references, five tables of data, and three sample student essays are attached.) (RS)