This booklet outlines the California state guidelines for writing which assert that students should be carefully taught to read and compose many types of discourse to prepare them for higher education, the job market, and citizenship in democracy. The booklet summarizes the purposes for which the California Assessment Program (CAP) was developed, i.e., to: (1) set high standards for writing through a wide-range achievement test; (2) guide students through a variety of thinking and writing processes; (3) place particular attention on making good writing instruction available to all students; (4) allow for the monitoring of progress from year to year at school, district, and state levels; (5) require less time for testing a variety of writing types through the use of matrix sampling; (6) expose students to many types of writing situations; and (7) offer state-of-the-art, teacher-developed instructional materials. The booklet describes the types of essays which eighth and twelfth graders are expected to write; the collaborative efforts of the English-Language Arts Assessment Advisory Committee and the CAP Writing Development Team; the process of "prompt" development and selection; the state-of-the-art measurement system; the three-tiered reporting system; the creation of the "Writing Assessment Handbook"; and the future goals of CAPs English-Language Arts Assessment Committee. Two sample student essays are included. (PRA)