This paper reports on two research studies. The first study investigates teachers monitoring strategies during computer-assisted composition instruction. The findings reveal four principles underlying a strategic, proximal instruction process. The four principles are collaborative assessment, guided practice, instructional branching, and learner self-monitoring skills development. The computer is described as a cognitive tool supporting and facilitating teachers' active involvement in students' writing process, which represents a change in the traditional process-writing pedagogy that focuses on the analysis of students' writing products. The second study reports on a related issue concerning the design of electronic performance-based assessment systems. The findings are a set of guidelines instructional designers and educators can use in planning for the use of electronic assessment systems. Both studies point to the need for technological solutions to provide efficient, valid, and reliable information to teachers and learners in order to enhance the instructional processes that accompany active, engaged learning experiences. Two figures illustrate: a common interaction pattern between teacher, students, and peers in a computerized learning environment; and the proximal instruction model. A table diagramming the guidelines for management of performance-based assessment and an appendix outlining the guidelines formed in the second study are also included. (Contains 49 references.) (Author/DLS)