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This paper argues for a direct, holistic assessment of writing of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students. Holistic writing assessment is the term used for tests that evaluate writing wholly through the production of writing. A holistic writing assessment has at least the following five characteristics: each individual taking the assessment must actually write at least one piece of continuous text of 100 words or more; the reader is provided a prompt and is given considerable room in which to respond to the prompt; every text is read by at least two or more reader-judges who have been through training for scoring of writing in that context. The judgments made by readers are tied in some way to some common yardstick, such as a set of sample essays, or one of several rating scales and the readers ' responses to the writing are expressed as a number or numbers of some kind, instead of or in addition to written or verbal comments. Further information is provided on the use of holistic writing assessment and on scoring methods for holistic writing assessment methods. Responses to the paper by Denise McKeon and Joy Kreeft Peyton are appended. (V-) Ixeproouccions suppilea oy boxb are tne best tnac can be made from the original document