An examination of the relationships among the English curriculum guide, English instruction, and student performance on the 1996 T-CAP writing assessment of the middle schools of Rutherford County

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships of the curriculum objectives, English instruction, and student outcomes in composition of the middle school English curriculum of Rutherford County Schools in Tennessee. The methods and procedures were divided into three stages: (1) an analysis of the English curriculum guide; (2) an analysis of the English instruction; and (3) an analysis of student outcomes in response to the curriculum and its instruction.

In the first stage, the English curriculum guide was examined to identify the degree to which writing objectives existed for instruction. In the second stage, the English instruction was examined to identify its effectiveness in the teaching of writing. This was achieved through the use of a survey which measured the frequency of effective writing strategies used in the classroom. In the third stage, the level of student proficiency in composition was examined. This was achieved through the use of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program Writing Test.

The findings of the study revealed the following: (1) the English curriculum guide contained a small number of writing objectives, unnecessary repetition, and ambiguity; (2) the majority of teachers did not frequently use journal writing, timed-writing exercises, or writing workshops in their instruction; and (3) 55.2% of the students in the study exhibited deficient writing skills in the state assessment.

The conclusions of the study indicate that the lack of effectiveness of the English instruction and student outcomes may be due in part to limitations of the curriculum guides. Furthermore, teachers may not utilize in their instruction the elements found in the state assessment. Thus, a lack of alignment may exist among the curriculum objectives, instruction, and assessment.