Beginning in February 1994, twelfth-grade students who have passed the Ohio Ninth-grade Proficiency Tests in all areas will take the Twelfth-grade Proficiency Tests in writing, reading, mathematics, and citizenship. This fact sheet describes the Twelfth-grade Proficiency Test in writing, which is designed to measure a twelfth-grade level of literacy as defined by 18 learning outcomes developed by Ohio educators and adopted by the State Board of Education in 1988. For instructional purposes, the 18 outcomes can be clustered into content, organization, language, and writing conventions. As writing samples are scored, a careful balance of these four categories is sought, while holistic scoring emphasizes the importance of the overall impression of the writing. The writing component of the Twelfth-grade Proficiency Tests consists of two writing prompts to which students respond with original samples of writing. The selection of the types of writing differs from year to year. The scoring rubric is a 6-point numerical scale on which numbers represent different levels of writing proficiency based on the 18 learning outcomes. Readers are employed by an independent testing company contracted by the state of Ohio, and they rely on rangefinder papers selected by state educators. Students are encouraged to prewrite and to edit drafts as they respond to the two prompts. (SLD)