“…Assessing writing ability and the reliability of ratings have been a challenging concern for decades and there is always variation in the elements of writing preferred by raters and there are extraneous factors causing variation (Blok, 1985;Chase, 1968;Chase, 1983;Darus, 2006;East, 2009;Engelhard, 1994;Gyagenda & Engelhard, 1998a;Gyagenda & Engelhard, 1998b;Hughes, Keeling & Tuck, 1980;Hughes, Keeling & Tuck, 1983;Hughes & Keeling, 1984;Kan, 2005;Klein & Hart, 1968;Klein & Taub, 2005;Marshall & Powers, 1969;Murphy & Balzer, 1989;Schaefer, 2008;Slomp, 2012;Sulsky & Balzer, 1988;Wexley & Youtz, 1985;Woehr & Huffcutt, 1994). Fisher, Brooks, and Lewis (2002) state fitness for purpose requirement is the core of all testing work, and direct writing assessments are subjective and thereby more prone to reliability issues.…”