Developed from a comparison of the writing performance of eighth grade students in Delaware with a representative national group, this writing resource guide provides a detailed description of the state's writing assessment procedure and offers educators guidance in evaluating student writing and improving student writing skills. After describing the state writing assessment program, the first of three sections suggests methods of preparing for assessment and applying scoring procedures in the classroom. It also presents descriptions of the primary and secondary traits of major types of writing, a completed example of preparatory work, a sample preparation form, and a checklist for mechanics scoring to aid in evaluation. The second section contains 40 teaching/learning activities labeled according to writing category (narrative, descriptive, expository, persuasive, or expressive) and suggested instructional level (elementary or secondary). The final section describes 11 books and articles related to evaluating student writing, lists several state-supported projects developed to improve student writing skills, and presents classroom activities available on microfiche. Assessment instruments are included in the appendixes. (MM)