The Center for the Study of Evaluation's (CSE) expository and narrative rating scales have been developed to meet the need for instructionally relevant methods for assessing students' writing competence. Research indicates that large numbers of raters can be trained in the use of these scales and that, during training and independent rating, they can maintain high levels of agreement. The expository scale employs five elements to assess students' expository writing: general competence, essay organization and coherence, paragraph coherence, support, and grammar/mechanics. The narrative scale employs four elements to assess students' narrative writing: general competence, focus and organization, support, and grammar/mechanics. Each scale is (1) firmly anchored in research on writing and writing assessment, (2) intended for use in a setting in which students are provided with clear writing prompts containing explicit directions to help them to plan and develop their assignment, and (3) is numerically rated to assess specific criteria and examples of skill levels and deficient levels. Each scale also represents instructional priorities of the school system using the scales. CSE plans the training of raters carefully to ensure reliability in the scoring procedures. (The shorter, tabular version of each scale and copies of actual, scored student writing samples are appended.) (JD)