This resource book contains 10 articles on specific aspects of writing assessment. Article one addresses several key issues, among them (1) whether writing should be taught from a traditional analytic approach or from the "writing-as-a-process" perspective, (2) whether writing ability can be judged indirectly or only by actual performance, and (3) what the options are for grading or scoring compositions. Article two provides information on the General Educational Development (GED) Writing Skills Test, the English Placement Test, the British Columbia Assessment of Written Expression, and a Writing Evaluation Folio. Article three contains suggestions for developing writing tasks and evaluating writing samples while Article four presents a case study of a student essay and a discussion of six different strategies for marking it. Article five takes up the practical aspects of using informal checklists to assess and improve the writing process, and Article six focuses on the more formal aspects of an external standard, as evidenced in the English Placement Test. Article seven discusses teaching and testing spelling while Article eight suggests ways to help the above-average student writer. Article nine offers some concluding observations on the problem of deciding and reporting whether a student has passed writing, and Article ten provides an opportunity for instructors to examine their writing program as a whole, in terms of the writing process approach. (Author/HOD)