This study considered the problem of evaluation--"how do we know when a student is ready to move into the regular college writing classroom." The subjects were culturally diverse students in a basic writing course at San Juan College in Farmington, New Mexico. Findings suggest that: (1) students in the course do not fit neatly into any of the expected remedial categories; (2) students deal with questions of cultural heritage in their own terms; (3) integration of evaluation helped students focus on their needs within the course; (4) teacher-student individual conference time is integral to student success; and (5) students are the best predictors of their own success in the next level writing course. Conclusions state that there is a strong argument for self-directed student placement at the end of basic writing courses and that in the rural, multicultural community college setting of the study the basic writing program is invisible. (EF)