Six university English departments collaborated in this examination of the differences between multiple-choice and essay tests in evaluating writing skills. The study also investigated ways the two tools can complement one another, ways to improve cost effectiveness of essay testing, and ways to integrate assessment and the educational process. College freshman wrote six essays involving expository, narrative, and persuasive writing skills. They were scored by nine readers using a holistic scoring method. College Entrance Examination Board data files also provided six multiple-choice test scores for most of the subjects, including Scholastic Aptitude Test, Test of Standard Written English, and English Composition Test. Essay assessment was found to be less reliable than multiple-choice tests, but the use of multiple essays or the combination of essays with non-essay measures alleviated this. Essay testing, even of a single essay, was more costly; it was also reasonably valid despite low reliability. Combination of essay and non-essay measures provided very good predictions of writing ability, with non-essay measures losing importance as the number of essay readings increased. This, however, increased cost. To better control cost, it was suggested that fewer readings be combined with a multiple-choice test. It was also recommended that the writing assignments be drawn from work completed in a writing course. Appendices include the writing tasks, the Student Descriptive Questionnaire, scoring materials, and data tables. (MGD)