It has been noted that students have an influential role in determining the nature of classroom events in the middle grades and that their teachers adjust their classroom behavior in response to the characteristics of students in the class. This paper analyzes instruction as discourse between teacher and students and the collaborative nature of their interaction. In considering reciprocity in instruction, the characteristics of high-quality instructional discourse are examined. These characteristics include: (1) authentic questions which seek a high input from the student; (2) the teacher's incorporation of a previous student answer into a subsequent question; (3) teacher response which validates the student's impact on the course of discussion; (4) questions eliciting nonroutine generalizations, analyses, or speculations; (5) encouragement of thoughtful student questions; and (6) high level of student participation. A discussion is presented on the effects of classroom organization on instructional discourse and the effects of instructional discourse on student achievement. A brief description is given of a pilot study conducted to examine the conditions of instructional discourse. A bibliography is included as well as data from the pilot study. (JD)