The New Mexico High School Proficiency Examination (NMHSPE) assesses the extent to which New Mexico students have mastered the skills and knowledge specified on the New Mexico Basic Skills Plan. The test includes an objective portion and a writing assessment. A student passing both sections receives a diploma endorsement from the State Department of Education. Students who fail one or both sections of the examination may re-take either or both sections in the junior or senior year. A Rasch scale score of 523 was the minimum passing score, achieved by 94% of the students in Grade 10 and 86% of those in Grade 11. Those taking the examination in Grades 11 and 12 took it to make up for previous failures. The Writing Appraisal was scored with holistic scoring methods by a committee of teachers. In Grade 10, 95% of the students passed the writing section; 88% of students from Grade 11 passed it. The percentage passing the writing skills appraisal has been relatively consistent from 1984 to 1985, but there was a slight drop in performance on the objective portion when compared to the previous year. Goals and objectives of the NMHSPE, item descriptors of the objective portion of the NMHSPE, and a teachers' assignment for evaluating student writing skills are appended. (SLD)