The written response on LEAP English I and II: complete overview - Louisiana

The written response is the writing heart of the LEAP English I and II assessment. Every student completes two prose constructed responses: the Research Simulation Task plus either the Literary Analysis Task or the Narrative Writing Task. All are text-based, built from the provided passages. This site breaks the module into six dot points. This overview maps the tasks, the rubrics, and how to study them.

The six written-response skills

Each skill covers a task or a cross-cutting writing move.

• Understanding the written response tasks. The three tasks, the combination every student does, and the text-based feature they share. See understanding the written response tasks.
• The Literary Analysis Task. An analytic essay about how an author develops an element of one or more literary texts. See the Literary Analysis Task.
• The Research Simulation Task. A synthesized, evidence-based essay across several sources, required for every student. See the Research Simulation Task.
• The Narrative Writing Task. An original narrative connected to a stimulus, with its own rubric. See the Narrative Writing Task.
• Using text evidence in the response. Choosing, integrating, and explaining evidence, the point-evidence-explanation habit. See using text evidence in the response.
• The LEAP writing rubric and scoring. The two rubrics, their dimensions, and the point scales. See the LEAP writing rubric and scoring.

The thread through every skill: text-based, evidence-driven, rubric-scored

Three ideas tie the module together. The first is text-based: every response is built from the provided passages, so close reading comes first. The second is evidence-driven: the analytic tasks reward a claim developed with specific, explained evidence, and the point-evidence-explanation habit is the engine of the score. The third is rubric-scored: two rubrics define exactly what scorers reward, so writing toward the dimensions, weighted reading-and-writing or weighted narrative craft, plus conventions, turns writing into aiming at a known target. Reading feeds writing, evidence feeds the score, and the rubric defines the target.

The two rubrics at a glance

• Analytic rubric (Literary Analysis and Research Simulation tasks): Reading Comprehension and Written Expression (holistic 0 to 4, times 4, up to 16) plus Knowledge of Language and Conventions (0 to 3), up to 19 total.
• Narrative rubric (Narrative Writing Task): Written Expression (holistic 0 to 4, times 3, up to 12) plus Knowledge of Language and Conventions (0 to 3), up to 15 total.
• The zero rule: a blank, off-topic, wrong-language, or entirely copied response is unscorable and earns 0.

How to study the written response

1. Prepare the Research Simulation Task first. It is universal, and synthesis is its core.
2. Rehearse both possible second tasks. Be ready for the Literary Analysis Task or the Narrative Writing Task.
3. Learn the two rubrics. Write toward the dimensions: claim and evidence for the analytic tasks, narrative craft for the narrative task.
4. Drill point, evidence, explanation. The explanation is where the analytic dimension awards credit.
5. Read first, always. Every task is text-based, so close reading of the passages comes before writing.

For the official exam materials

LDOE publishes the LEAP 2025 Assessment Guide for English I and English II, which contains the writing rubrics and sample responses, along with practice tests and the Louisiana Student Standards. See the LEAP 2025 Assessment Guide for English I and English II and the Louisiana Student Standards page. Always study from the current rubrics and released materials, because the tasks and scoring are set by LDOE.