Using an informal writing style, this journal issue describes the "process approach" to teaching composition in the Beaverton School District (Oregon). The first section contrasts the goal approach, which stresses correct grammar and mastery of specific forms, with the process method, which considers the rhetorical context of conveying a message to an audience. Five writing stages comparable to Aristotelian rhetoric are then described and illustrated. The second section traces the evolution of Beaverton School District's process writing program (particularly the writing across the curriculum component) and explains the district's writing skills assessment program. The program's success can be measured by dramatic improvement in students' test scores from 1985 to 1986 and better student attitudes toward writing. The final section highlights the most useful ideas advanced by three sample elementary, intermediate, and high schools in the Beaverton district. The conclusion underlines the importance of providing well-coordinated inservice support for teachers. Enthusiasm and strong staff commitment are necessary to initiate and maintain process writing programs. The appendices provide the following: (1) the Beaverton writing assessment model, made up of criteria for scoring analytical traits dealing with ideas/content, organization, voice, effective word choice, syntax/sentence structure, and writing conventions; and (2) writing program goals. Included are 12 references, and 13 persons are listed under "Interviews." (MLH)