How are the three LEAP English sessions structured, what does each carry, and how does the test fit together as a whole?
The three-session structure of LEAP English I and II: the three computer-based sessions and roughly what each carries (a writing task with a passage set in Sessions 1 and 2, reading literary and informational texts in Session 3), the integration of reading and writing, the role of the universal Research Simulation Task, and how the test fits together, for LEAP English I or II.
How the LEAP English I and II assessment is structured across three computer-based sessions: a writing task with a passage set in Sessions 1 and 2 and reading in Session 3, with reading and writing integrated. Knowing the structure helps you plan the test, including the universal Research Simulation Task.
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What this skill is asking
Knowing the three-session structure of LEAP English I and II before you sit the test is its own form of preparation: it tells you what to expect, how reading and writing fit together, and how to plan your time. The assessment is delivered in three computer-based sessions that integrate reading and writing, you read complex literary and informational passages and write in response to them. Sessions 1 and 2 each carry a prose constructed-response writing task with a passage set, and Session 3 focuses on reading literary and informational texts. This page maps the structure, the integration of reading and writing, the role of the universal Research Simulation Task, and how the whole test fits together. The transferable skill is approaching the test as a coherent, planned whole rather than a series of surprises.
The three sessions
The test is a planned sequence, not a single block.
The writing tasks anchor Sessions 1 and 2: across the test you complete the Research Simulation Task and either the Literary Analysis Task or the Narrative Writing Task, each with a passage set. Session 3 is reading-focused, drawing on literary and informational passages. The exact placement of tasks can vary by test form, so the safest expectation is two sessions that include a writing task and a reading-focused session, with the Research Simulation Task always present. This structure is why the reading modules feed the writing module so directly: the test itself integrates them.
How the test fits together
Seeing the whole helps you prepare for the parts.
This whole-test view connects to every other strategy skill: the item types you will meet (technology-enhanced items), how to budget time across the sessions (pacing), how to read the prompts and rubrics, and what your score means (achievement levels). The structure is the frame on which the rest of your preparation hangs. Approaching LEAP English as three integrated sessions with a known shape is the foundation of a calm, planned test day.
Planning for the structure
Try this
Q1. How is the LEAP English assessment structured, and how are reading and writing related? [Recall]
- Cue. It has three computer-based sessions that integrate reading and writing: Sessions 1 and 2 each carry a writing task with a passage set, and Session 3 focuses on reading. You read complex passages and write in response, so the skills are used together.
Q2. A student plans to study only reading skills for LEAP English. Why is that incomplete, given the structure? [Short explanation]
- Cue. The sessions integrate reading and writing, and two of the three sessions carry a prose constructed-response writing task. Reading skills alone leave the writing tasks, including the universal Research Simulation Task, unprepared. The student should also rehearse writing toward the rubrics, using reading to feed the responses.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of LDOE exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
LEAP 2025 English I (style)1 marksHow many sessions does the LEAP English I or II assessment have, and how is reading related to writing? (1) One session of reading only. (2) Three sessions that integrate reading and writing. (3) Five sessions of multiple choice. (4) Two sessions of writing only.Show worked answer →
Answer: (2). The assessment is delivered in three computer-based sessions that integrate reading and writing: you read complex literary and informational passages and write in response to them, including prose constructed responses and selected-response reading items.
Why not the others: (1), (3), and (4) misstate the structure. Reading and writing are integrated throughout, not separated, which is why the reading skills feed the writing tasks. Knowing the test is three integrated sessions helps you plan your approach.
LEAP 2025 English II (style)2 marksRoughly how is the work distributed across the three LEAP English sessions, and which task is universal? (2 points: the distribution and the universal task.)Show worked answer →
Across the three sessions, the writing tasks and passage sets fall in Sessions 1 and 2 (each carrying a prose constructed-response task with a passage set), while Session 3 focuses on reading literary and informational texts. Sessions 1 and 2 run about 90 minutes each and Session 3 about 80 minutes.
The universal task is the Research Simulation Task: every student completes it, plus either the Literary Analysis Task or the Narrative Writing Task. So while the exact placement can vary by form, you can expect two sessions that include a writing task and a reading-focused session, with the Research Simulation Task always part of your test.
Related dot points
- Technology-enhanced and selected-response item types on LEAP English I and II: multiple choice, multiple select (choose all correct answers), evidence-based selected response (two-part or three-part, worth two points with partial credit), and technology-enhanced items such as drag-and-drop and hot text, and how to read and answer each format correctly on a computer-based test.
The item types on LEAP English I and II: multiple choice, multiple select, evidence-based selected response (two-part, worth two points with partial credit), and technology-enhanced items like drag-and-drop and hot text. How to read and answer each format correctly on the computer-based test.
- Pacing the assessment: budgeting time across the three LEAP English I and II sessions (about 90, 90, and 80 minutes), splitting each writing session between reading the passages, planning, drafting, and proofreading, allowing for the longer evidence-based and technology-enhanced items, and avoiding the common pacing mistakes on a computer-based test.
How to pace the LEAP English I and II assessment across its three sessions (about 90, 90, and 80 minutes): splitting writing sessions between reading, planning, drafting, and proofreading, budgeting for longer item types, and avoiding common pacing mistakes on the computer-based test.
- Reading the prompt and the rubric: analyzing a LEAP English I or II writing prompt to identify the task, the mode (analyze, explain, argue, or narrate), and the sources to use, and using the matching LEAP writing rubric (analytic or narrative) to write toward the dimensions, so the response answers the question asked and aims at the score.
How to read a LEAP English I or II writing prompt and rubric: identifying the task, the writing mode, and the sources to use, and writing toward the dimensions of the matching rubric (analytic or narrative). Answering the exact question asked and aiming at the rubric is what lifts the score.
- Achievement levels and what they mean: the five LEAP achievement levels (Advanced, Mastery, Basic, Approaching Basic, Unsatisfactory), what they indicate about a student's mastery of the Louisiana Student Standards, the role of LEAP English I or II as a graduation-required end-of-course test, and how the score contributes to the course grade, for LEAP English I or II.
The five LEAP achievement levels (Advanced, Mastery, Basic, Approaching Basic, Unsatisfactory), what each indicates about mastery of the Louisiana Student Standards, and how LEAP English I or II works as a graduation-required end-of-course test that also counts toward the course grade.
- Understanding the written response tasks on LEAP English I and II: the three prose constructed-response (PCR) tasks (Literary Analysis Task, Research Simulation Task, Narrative Writing Task), the rule that every student does the Research Simulation Task plus either the Literary Analysis Task or the Narrative Writing Task, and what all text-based responses share: a response built from the provided passages, not a free-topic essay.
An overview of the LEAP English I and II prose constructed-response tasks: the Literary Analysis Task, Research Simulation Task, and Narrative Writing Task, and the rule that every student does the Research Simulation Task plus one of the other two. What every text-based response shares and why none is a free-topic essay.
Sources & how we know this
- LEAP 2025 Assessment Guide for English I and English II — LDOE (2025)
- LEAP 2025 At-A-Glance by Subject and Grade Band — LDOE (2025)