Arguing that writing assessment and instruction should inform and influence one another, should evolve together, and should be developed locally, this book presents essays that analyze the development of the writing assessment and instruction program at Washington State University. The essays in the book directly challenge the use of national packaged assessment programs, such as standardized placement tests. Essays in part one, Program History: Three Narratives, are: (1) "The Continuing Program: A Retrospective View" (Richard Law); (2) "Authoring an Exam: Adventuring into Large-Scale Writing Assessment" (Richard H. Haswell and Susan Wyche); and (3) "An Assessment Office within a Writing Center: The Butterfly Effect" (Lisa Johnson-Shull and Susan Wyche). Essays in part two, Toward Outcomes, are: (4) "The Two-Tier Rating System: The Need for Ongoing Change" (Richard H. Haswell); (5) "The Obvious Placement: The Addition of Theory" (Richard H. Haswell); and (6) "Exploring the Difficult Cases: In the Cracks of Writing Assessment" (Galen Leonhardy and William Condon). Essays in part three, The Circle of Assessment and Instruction, are: (7) "Writes of Passage: Conceptualizing the Relationship of Writing Center and Writing Assessment Practices" (Lisa Johnson-Shull and Diane Kelly-Riley); (8) "Taking the 'Basic' out of 'Basic Writing'" (Susan Wyche); (9) "Value-Added Studies: Defending the Circle" (Richard H. Haswell); and (10) "Validation: Part of the Circle" (Richard H. Haswell). Essays in part four, Beyond Outcomes, are: (11) "Students as Stakeholders: Maintaining a Responsive Assessment" (Jennie Nelson and Diane Kelly-Riley); (12) "Faculty Opinion and Experience: The Writing Portfolio" (Fiona Glade, Diane Kelly-Riley, Susan McLeod, and William Condon); and (13) "Working with Administrators: A Dialogue on Dialogue" (Richard H. Haswell and Susan McLeod). The essay in part five, Program Future: Eight Questions, is: (14) "Whither? Some Questions, Some Answers" (William Condon, Fiona Glade, Richard H. Haswell, Lisa Johnson-Shull, Diane Kelly-Riley, Galen Leonhardy, Jennie Nelson, Susan McLeod, and Susan Wyche). Appendixes are: The Writing Program at Washington State University: A Time Line; Writing Placement Essay Prompts--Washington State University; and Information Rating Sheet. (RS)