Intended for teachers of all subjects, grades 3 through 12, this book explains how teachers can build a community of writers in which the students use portfolios to demonstrate progress and accomplishment across the curriculum. The book outlines practical strategies for ensuring that every student explores a variety of meaningful challenges. The book provides generous samples of student work, including two portfolios reprinted in their entirety, as well as a variety of tools for formal and informal assessment. Chapters in the book are: (1) A Practical History of Vermont's Portfolio-Based, Statewide Writing Assessment Program; (2) Music and White Noise; (3) Portfolios and the Writing Process; (4) Teacher Experimentation, The Writer's Attitude, and Student Ownership; (5) Creating and Using Portfolios; (6) Steven's and Abbie's Portfolios; (7) Developing and Teaching to Specific Criteria; (8) The Politics of Large-Scale Assessment; (9) Portfolios, Goal-Setting, and Self-Assessment; (10) How Soon Reliability (A Little Jab at the Statisticians); and (11) The Future of Portfolio-Based Writing Assessment. A glossary of terms, a glossary of writing techniques, a list of "obvious" principles for large-scale assessment; and a 162-item bibliography of books and periodicals on writing are attached. Contains 21 references. (RS)