A study of the non-parametric relationships of writing assessment test scores among fourth, seventh, and eleventh grade students enrolled in Tullahoma City Schools during the 1998–1999 school year

Dianne Carlson Sawyer, Tennessee State University

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the results of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) Writing Assessment from Tullahoma, Tennessee, students at elementary, middle, and high schools for the 1998–99 school year and to establish if there was predictability of “adequate” or “inadequate” scores at one level determining “adequate” or “inadequate” scores at the next level. Historical data were collected for 1998–99 seventh grade students on that year's writing assessment test and on their fourth grade writing assessment from the 1995–96 school year, and for 1998–99 eleventh grade students on that year's writing assessment test and on their seventh grade writing assessment from the 1994–95 school year. Descriptive statistics were compiled and a chi-square test using the .05 level of significance was calculated to determine statistically significant differences existing among writing assessment scores for the fourth, seventh, and eleventh grades and between genders. Results of this research revealed the following: (1) There was a significant difference between fourth-grade and seventh-grade writing assessment scores on the TCAP Writing Assessment. (2) There was a significant difference between seventh-grade and eleventh-grade writing assessment scores on the TCAP Writing Assessment. (3) There was a significant difference between fourth-grade and seventh-grade writing assessment scores for males on the TCAP Writing Assessment. (4) There was a significant difference between fourth-grade and seventh-grade writing assessment scores for females on the TCAP Writing Assessment. (5) There was no significant difference between seventh-grade and eleventh-grade writing assessment scores for males on the TCAP Writing Assessment. (6) There was a significant difference between seventh-grade and eleventh-grade writing assessment scores for females on the TCAP Writing Assessment. Results led to several recommendations specific to the Tullahoma City School System. Further study of data and analysis of annual writing assessment scores at the local, state, and national level was recommended.

Subject Area

Curricula|Teaching|Secondary education|Educational evaluation|Language arts

Recommended Citation

Dianne Carlson Sawyer, "A study of the non-parametric relationships of writing assessment test scores among fourth, seventh, and eleventh grade students enrolled in Tullahoma City Schools during the 1998–1999 school year" (2000). ETD Collection for Tennessee State University. Paper AAI3007577.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3007577

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