The Registered Holistic Scoring Method, which has been used for one year to score the ninth grade writing test of the New Jersey High School Proficiency Test, is described. Registered Holistic Scoring was developed from the previous holistic approach in order to provide more reliable scoring guidelines year after year. Two trained evaluators assign a score from 1 (inadequate command of written language) to 6 (strong command), based on the following criteria: organization and content; usage; sentence construction; and mechanics. To earn each score scale point, 1 to 6, there are specific requirements in areas of content, usage, sentence construction, and mechanics. The bulk of this document contains sample student essays and an explanation of the scores assigned. The essays were written on the topic of a task which the student did not enjoy performing. A few suggestions are also made for writing instruction. (GDC)