An ongoing investigation on the nature of literature-based instruction in schools that serve large numbers of economically disadvantaged children is in the process of describing various aspects of literacy teaching and learning in four schools, two rural, one urban, and one semi-urban. The investigation is qualitative in nature, longitudinal, and involves close collaboration with 10 teachers who participate regularly in focus groups set up by the researchers and in interviews with the researchers. A study which is part of this investigation used primary data from interviews with 49 children in 8 teacher-collaborator classrooms in grades 1 through 4. Interviewers asked children to describe themselves as readers and writers and how they go about reading and writing. Findings showed that in none of the classrooms was it common for students to engage in discussions of the reading and writing processes. Nor was it common for them to be encouraged to assess their own abilities. A discussion, included in the study, of 3 main issues--self-assessment, assessing teaching and learning, and the range of conceptual frameworks for understanding the nature of literacy activities--provide deeper elaboration on the results. Excerpts of some of the children's opinions illustrate the results. In general, the study concludes that from an assessment standpoint, educators must be concerned about the theories children hold about literacy and about themselves as literate learners. Current standardized assessment practices obscure rather than reveal the complexities of children's literate constructs, and do not support self-assessment. (Contains 12 references.) (TB)