In 1980-81 field tests were undertaken in North Carolina to develop a procedure for making writing competency a minimum requirement for graduation from high school. Measuring writing skills with adequate validity and reliability requires planning for data collection and varied scoring methods, personnel training, dissemination of assessment results for improved instruction, and the cost of assessment. Several prototype measurement models using ninth and eleventh grade students examined samples of message notes, an expository passage, a business letter and completing an application form. The efficacy of the measurement models relied on consideration of a scoring method to establish reliability with an impressionistic approach labeled "focused holistic" within scoring criteria to be consistently applied across central or regional scoring sites. Writing remediation needs were also investigated. A second year of design reconsiderations will include the effort to increase reliability by discriminating between adjacent score values to establish a cut-off score; the expansion to direct and indirect writing measures; the development of exercise review procedures; and decisions regarding minimum competency objectives. (CM)