I asked a colleague, David Jolliffe, about where the use of "authentic" in phrases such as "authentic intellectual achievement" come from and he pointed me to Fred M. Newman and Associates, *Authentic Achievement: Restructuring Schools for Intellectual Quality* (San Francisco: Josey-Bass, 1996). Authentic as used in this context "stands for intellectual accomplishments that are worthwhile, significant, and meaningful, such as those undertaken by successful adults: scientists, musicians, business entrepreneurs, politicians . . . For students, we define authentic achievement through three criteria critical to significant accomplishment: construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and the value of achievement beyond school." (23-24) The issue is salient here because in Russ' review of *Worlds Apart* he argues that "writing which isn't done in the workplace *can* serve such *authentic* [my emphasis] functions as creating community, influencing others, establishing a record, furthering mutual tasks, and so forth, and can do so even in classrooms." (3rd last paragraph, web text) The point is that there is a group of people who are working to restructure American k-12 schools using "authentic achievement" as a key phrase. This work asserts, similarly to Russ, that "authentic" learning and writing can occur in schools. Russ was responding to the assertion on page 226 of *Worlds Apart* that "[students'] texts do not have performativity, in the sense of realizing speech acts such as orders or requests." The point under debate here is "can student texts be authentic in the sense that their texts either have or can potentially have consequences?". Russ says yes, and in my presentation at Inkshed I also argued that student texts can have consequences, such as obtaining funding for workshops for prostituted girls and women. The challenge, it seems to me, is to define what it means for a text to have consequences and then to design curricula that provoke these texts and engage students in meaningful action. Roger Graves, DePaul University, Chicago -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to [log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties, write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask] For the list archives and information about the organization, its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-