| The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not Texas school districts, after curriculum management audit intervention, had improved average student academic performance gains beyond comparable districts' average academic performance gains. State mandated student achievement test results were used to ascertain academic growth, decline, or stability in both audited districts and the state.;Four comparison groups were established for thirty-four audited Texas school districts. Groups were determined by the year each district's curriculum management audit had been conducted. The four audited groups consisted of five districts receiving audits in the 1994--1995 school year; eight districts in the 1995--1996 school year; eleven districts in the 1996--1997 school year; and ten districts in the 1997--1998 school year. The district gains in each comparison group were averaged to determine a mean gain for the group. The mean student achievement gains were then compared to mean student achievement gains from a group of matched districts on the same test administrations.;Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test results of four subject areas and four sub-populations were used in the study as comparison categories. Comparisons of audited group mean gains to non-audited comparable group mean gains were studied in the subject areas of All Tests Taken, Reading, Mathematics, and Writing. Comparisons of audited group mean gains to non-audited comparable group mean gains were also studied in the student sub-populations of African-American, Hispanic, White, and Economically Disadvantaged.;Four conclusions were drawn from the findings: (1) Groups that had recent curriculum management audits showed more gain over the non-audited comparable group mean gains than districts with earlier curriculum management audits; (2) Districts in audited groups had the greatest gain over non-audited comparison groups in the subject areas of Mathematics and All Tests Taken; (3) White sub-populations saw audited group mean gains above the non-audited comparable group gain in three of the four audited groups while minority and Economically Disadvantaged sup-populations had the largest group mean gains in both audited and non-audited comparison groups over previous test administrations; (4) As time increased following a curriculum management audit, mean student achievement gains of audited districts decreased. |
