LEAP 2025 English I and English II (Louisiana): complete guide to the three sessions, the prose constructed-response tasks (Literary Analysis, Research Simulation, Narrative), the LEAP writing rubrics, the item types, and the five achievement levels

The LEAP 2025 English I and English II assessments are the Louisiana high school English exams, administered by the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) as end-of-course tests. They assess transferable skills applied to unseen texts: close reading of complex literary and informational material, evidence-based writing, command of language, and the ability to revise and edit. This page is the index for our LEAP English I and II content: a map of the three sessions, the prose constructed-response writing tasks and their rubrics, the item types, the Louisiana Student Standards behind the test, the five achievement levels, and how to study, with links to every dot point.

The assessment at a glance

English I and English II are each delivered as three computer-based sessions that integrate reading and writing. You read complex literary and informational passages and write in response to them.

• Three sessions. Sessions 1 and 2 run about 90 minutes each and Session 3 about 80 minutes, so the test totals roughly 260 minutes. Session 1 carries a Literary Analysis Task or a Research Simulation Task with a passage set; Session 2 carries a Research Simulation Task or a Narrative Writing Task with a passage set; Session 3 is reading literary and informational texts.
• Two writing tasks per student. Everyone does the Research Simulation Task. Depending on the form, you also do either the Literary Analysis Task or the Narrative Writing Task. Each is a prose constructed response (a text-based essay).
• Texts. Literary passages (short stories, novel excerpts, drama, poetry) and informational passages (literary nonfiction, essays, speeches, accounts), some grouped into paired or multi-text sets so you read across sources.
• Question formats. Multiple choice, multiple select, evidence-based selected-response (EBSR) items, and technology-enhanced items, alongside the prose constructed responses.
• Scoring. The prose responses are scored on the LEAP writing rubrics; the selected-response and technology-enhanced items are scored by the platform. Together they produce a scale score and an achievement level.

Scores are reported in five achievement levels (Advanced, Mastery, Basic, Approaching Basic, Unsatisfactory) using LDOE's standards for that administration.

Reading literary texts

The assessment presents unseen literary texts and asks you to analyze them. Questions test theme and central idea, plot and structure, character and point of view, the craft of fiction and poetry, and figurative language. The reliable approach is to read actively, then answer with the text in front of you, returning to the lines a question points to.

• Analyzing theme in literary texts
• Plot, conflict, and structure
• Character and point of view
• Figurative language and literary devices
• Reading poetry on the LEAP

Reading informational and argumentative texts

Informational passages ask you to analyze central ideas, the structure and logic of an argument, an author's purpose and craft, and how two texts relate. The questions test reading skill, not background knowledge of the topic. This module also feeds the Research Simulation Task, which is built on reading across informational sources.

• Central ideas in informational texts
• Analyzing argument and claims
• Author's purpose and craft
• Text structure and organization
• Text evidence and inference
• Comparing and synthesizing paired texts

Language and vocabulary

The Language strand is tested in context: vocabulary in a passage, figurative and connotative meaning, word parts, and the conventions of standard English. These skills also feed the Knowledge of Language and Conventions dimension of the writing rubrics.

• Vocabulary in context
• Word parts: roots, prefixes, and suffixes
• Denotation, connotation, and figurative meaning
• Grammar and usage conventions
• Punctuation and sentence structure

The written response

The prose constructed responses are the writing heart of LEAP English. You do the Research Simulation Task plus either the Literary Analysis Task or the Narrative Writing Task, each a text-based essay scored on a LEAP writing rubric. You establish a clear claim or controlling idea, develop it with specific evidence from the texts and analysis, organize it logically, and write with clean conventions.

• Understanding the written response tasks
• The Literary Analysis Task
• The Research Simulation Task
• The Narrative Writing Task
• Using text evidence in the response
• The LEAP writing rubric and scoring

Revising and editing

Revising and editing items present a draft and ask you to improve it. Revising targets clarity, development, and organization; editing targets grammar, usage, punctuation, and spelling. The same conventions are scored on the prose responses.

• Revising for clarity and organization
• Editing for grammar and usage
• Sentence boundaries and combining
• Word choice and precision
• Revising and editing item types

Exam strategy

Knowing the three-session structure, the item types, the timing, the rubrics, and the achievement levels is its own skill. These pages cover how to navigate the test and budget your time.

• The three-session structure
• Technology-enhanced item types
• Pacing the assessment
• Reading the prompt and the rubric
• Achievement levels and what they mean

The LEAP writing rubrics

The prose constructed responses are scored on two LEAP rubrics, and learning them is one of the highest-leverage things you can do.

• Literary Analysis Task and Research Simulation Task share one rubric. It has two dimensions: Reading Comprehension and Written Expression, a holistic score of 0 to 4 that is multiplied by 4 (up to 16 points), rewarding a clear, text-based claim developed with specific evidence and analysis in well-organized writing; and Knowledge of Language and Conventions, scored 0 to 3, for grammar, usage, and mechanics. Each of these responses is worth up to 19 points.
• The Narrative Writing Task has its own rubric. It scores Written Expression as a holistic 0 to 4 multiplied by 3 (up to 12 points), rewarding narrative development, structure, and technique, plus Knowledge of Language and Conventions, 0 to 3, for up to 15 points.
• An unscorable response earns 0. A blank, off-topic, wrong-language, or entirely copied response cannot be scored, because there is nothing of the student's own writing to judge.

The standards behind the assessment

LEAP English I and II are aligned to the Louisiana Student Standards for English Language Arts at the grade 9 to 10 band. The standards are organized into five strands: Reading: Literature (RL), Reading: Informational Text (RI), Writing (W), Speaking and Listening (SL), and Language (L). The reading strands group their standards under Key Ideas and Details, Craft and Structure, and Integration of Knowledge and Ideas. Reading questions assess RL and RI; the prose responses and the revising and editing items assess Writing and Language; vocabulary items assess Language. Speaking and Listening is taught in class but is not directly tested on the written exam.

How to study LEAP English I and II

1. Treat reading and writing as one connected skill, because the prose responses are text-based and the reading items reward the same close analysis.
2. Read unseen texts widely (literary prose, drama, poetry, and informational or argumentative pieces), practicing close analysis and inference.
3. Write toward the rubrics. Know the dimensions so your claim is clear, your evidence is specific and explained, and your conventions are clean, and learn how the narrative rubric differs from the analysis rubric.
4. Find the line that proves it. Most reading items and all good essay evidence come back to a specific place in the text; practice locating it quickly, especially for the evidence-based selected-response items.
5. Practice the item types and the pacing (multiple choice, multiple select, EBSR, drag-and-drop, hot text) using released LDOE practice materials, and rehearse the three-session timing.

For the official exam materials

LDOE publishes the LEAP 2025 Assessment Guide for English I and English II, practice tests, the writing rubrics, achievement-level descriptors, and family resources on its assessment pages. See the LDOE assessment guidance page and the LEAP 2025 Assessment Guide for English I and English II. The Louisiana Student Standards for ELA are published on the Louisiana Student Standards page. Always study from the current guide and released materials, because the item types, scoring, and achievement levels are set by LDOE.