Building on the work of an earlier article ["The Word Writing CAFE: Assessing Student Writing for Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency," Dorothy J. Leal, "Reading Teacher," 59 (4) Dec 2005 (EJ738016)], these authors investigated the use of a simple assessment tool with a different audience to yield similar useful results. (Contains 3 figures and 4 tables.) The Word Writing CAFE is designed to objectively evaluate students' word writing ability for complexity, accuracy, and fluency in a whole-class setting. It is a way to learn about a student's writing out of context and track progress over time. It is also one of the few tools for assessing student writing in general. The authors used the CAFE to assess the word writing ability of a group of struggling readers enrolled in an afterschool program. They discovered that the CAFE had much to tell about the strengths and needs of these students which could help in planning appropriate instruction. The CAFE offered a window on students' ability to write words in isolation and provided information about their linguistic knowledge, interests, thinking, and problem solving. The purpose of this article is to provide background on various writing assessments, describe how the CAFE was used, and share data that indicate a wider contribution to writing assessment and instruction than had been previously proposed. The authors also offer observations about the CAFE's limitations, and suggestions for adapting it for classroom use. (Contains 3 figures and 4 tables.)