This handbook, intended for English language arts teachers, principals, curriculum and testing specialists, superintendents, and all educators interested in preparing students for the grade 8 California Assessment Program (CAP) writing assessment, provides the practitioner with information about the content of the test, the rationale underlying it, and materials to help administrators and teachers prepare for and respond to the assessment. It is a practical and open-ended document that contains descriptions of the eight types of writing tested in the eighth grade (report of information, evaluation, problem solution, autobiographical incident, firsthand biography, observational writing, story, and speculation about cause or effect), as well as information about the importance, characteristics, and interrelatedness of the various types of writing. In addition, the guide includes the following items: exemplary student essays and an example of one student's writing process; suggestions for classroom writing assignments; samples of a range of students' writing, including essays written for the CAP writing test; examples of published essays; recommended readings for use in the classroom; and a scoring guide for rhetorical effectiveness. (SR)