Intended for English-language arts teachers, principals, curriculum and testing specialists, and superintendents, this handbook assists educators in preparing students for California's writing assessment. The handbook begins with a program overview and a discussion of writing assessment and the curriculum. The handbook then provides high school writing guides for each of the eight types of writing identified as most appropriate for high school: autobiographical incident; controversial issues; evaluation; interpretation; observational writing; reflective essay; report of information; and speculation about causes and effects. The writing guides for each type of writing present: a description of the type of writing; sample student essays of varying quality; a discussion of students' writing processes for that type of writing; classroom writing assignments for a variety of content areas; guidelines for writing prompts; and published examples of the type of writing. The handbook also provides rhetorical effectiveness scoring guides for each of the eight types of writing. The handbook concludes with a discussion of students with special needs. (RS)