The development of the City University of New York's writing assessment test is discussed in this paper. Its relationship to the total freshman skills assessment program, which also involves the assessment of minimal competencies in mathematics and reading, is related. The discussion of the test includes descriptions of the test development committee's work, its decisions to use a writing sample graded holistically, the methods of training reader/evaluators, and the actual reading procedures that--due to budget restrictions--have remained in individual schools rather than being conducted centrally. Comments from the evaluator of the writing project are cited and positive aspects of the program are noted. The appendixes include a press release showing students' scores in the fall of 1978 and improved scores of those who were retested in the spring of 1979, a copy of the student information bulletin describing the test, and a pamphlet describing the writing skills assessment test that contains sample student essays with evaluators' comments. (MKM)