Because of consistent faculty involvement from its earliest stages, the writing assessment program at the University of Missouri at Kansas City (UMKC) represents a competent, fair, and useful procedure for the large-scale testing and evaluation of student writing. UMKC's assessment curriculum builds on the existing sequence of three composition courses and subsequently moves progressively through instruction in composing tasks comprised of personal essays, expository essays, and essays based on reading. After the first two composition courses, students are required to take the Written English Proficiency Test (WEPT), which they must pass in order to take the third required course. The WEPT tests composing and reading skills defined by composition faculty, who have reached consensus about the necessary tasks to be taught in a college writing course. This consensus process represents a key issue in assessment, not only because faculty reach an agreement about performance standards to determine level of ability, but also because they participate in the WEPT grading sessions. Benefits to the English Department and to students include detailed scoring of exam essays which identify individual and program weaknesses, increased accessibility for all students to the junior-level composition courses, and clarified writing evaluation throughout the department. Teachers have more confidence about the grades they assign in class; students have faith in the consistent standards and grading procedures. (Three appendixes, including specific instructions for the WEPT and a scoring scale, and 31 references are attached.) (KEH)