The writing assessment used in grade 10 of the Cherry Creek, (Colorado) schools is described. Over the past 3 years, the focus of the assessment has changed from an assessment heavily weighted on multiple-choice items, with minimal constructed response tasks, to an assessment based entirely on a written product. Students are provided with multiple sessions to draft, revise, and edit; they must then compose a final copy of an essay. In this way, the level of performance reflects a real-life situation, in which one has a chance to revise work with less time constraints than are present in conventional writing assessments that force a student to complete an essay in one sitting. The grade 10 language arts assessment is a year-long process, with the following components: (1) development or redevelopment of the scoring guide; (2) selection of the scoring team; (2) selection of topics; (4) the student writing process; (5) research and evaluation by the staff; (6) training of scorers; (7) scoring of papers; (8) feedback to students; and (9) feedback from scorers to educators. Attachments include scoring guides, the assessment booklet, and other information related to scoring. (SLD)