Problems inherent in the holistic scoring of essay examinations written by limited-English-speakers are examined, particularly in the context of one California state college in which English writing skills, holistically assessed, are required for graduation. These problems include lack of interrater reliability, raters' perceptions of their role, a reductive approach to scoring, imprecise criteria for scoring, confusion between inaccurate and non-standard structures, and clear prejudice based on the fact that the examinee was a student of English as a Second Language (ESL). A 1993 study of 392 faculty investigated teacher expectations of student writing in upper-and lower-division courses, including criteria for judging ESL student writing and beliefs about ESL student work in academic classes. Most respondents felt non-native speakers of English should meet the same criteria for English writing skills as native speakers, and declared that they graded ESL writers as they would native speakers. Implications are drawn in these areas: faculty awareness of different perceptions of writing proficiency; assessing student opportunities for learning; classroom teaching techniques; faculty cooperation on behalf of individual students; and both fairness and rigor in testing. Contains 25 references. (MSE)