LEAP 21 (Louisiana Educational Assessment Program for the 21st Century) is an integral part of the Louisiana school and district accountability system. In the school year 1999-2000, students in Grade 8 took LEAP 21 English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies tests. For LEAP 21, student scores are reported in terms of five achievement levels: Advanced, Proficient, Basic, Approaching Basic, and Unsatisfactory. This booklet is part of a series meant to promote understanding of the knowledge and skills that students must have and the kinds of work they must produce to be successful on the LEAP 21 tests. The booklet presents student work in the English Language Arts test that was completed as part of the LEAP 21 assessment. It includes examples of multiple-choice and constructed-response (short answer and extended response) items, and a written composition, which exemplify what students at specified achievement levels should know and be able to do. In the booklet, a discussion of each released item highlights the knowledge and skills it is intended to measure, as well as strengths and weaknesses in the student work on the item. The booklet explains the format of the LEAP 21 English Language Arts test, which is composed of four parts--Writing, Using Information Resources, Reading and Responding, and Proofreading. It also provides student writing samples. (NKA)