Elementary school students often complete four to six reading and writing assignments each day. Using findings from several of my studies, I describe how most reading and writing assignments, referred to as {\rm academic \ tasks} , do not require the demonstration of sophisticated cognitive, social, or self-regulation skills. As both a classroom teacher and researcher, I have questioned how
... [Show full abstract] teachers might design academic tasks that challenge students to read and write complex prose, share opinion with and offer feedback to classmates, and monitor their learning progress over extended time periods. This article describes an intervention study where teachers required students to demonstrate such abilities across the school year. The discussion focuses on how these new expectations influenced student motivation and learning and the implications of these findings for struggling readers and writers.