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TCAP Writing Assessment

Published January 26, 2012

Thousands of Williamson County students will begin the month of February by taking the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) Writing Assessment.  Students in fifth, eighth and eleventh grades will take the assessment Wednesday, February 1.  They will each have 35 minutes to write a rough draft essay in response to an assigned topic.  Each grade writes a different type of essay:

  • Grade 5 – Narrative
  • Grade 8 - Expository
  • Grade 11 - Persuasive

The purpose of the TCAP Writing Assessment is to measure each student's progress toward achieving Tennessee goals and standards. The essays are scored according to the Tennessee Writing Rubric on a scale of one to six, with one described as deficient and six as outstanding. This LINK to the Tennessee Department of Education provides a further explanation of the writing assessment and scoring rubric.

Students not being tested will respond to a district provided prompt that day following the same format as the state prompt. The Williamson County Writing Assessment provides structured practice for students to prepare for the state assessment as well as formative assessment data to assist teachers in planning and designing writing instruction in all grades.

As with all assessments, parents may assist their students by:

  • Making sure students are well rested and have had a nutritious breakfast when they arrive at school.
  • Encouraging students to relax, read the prompt carefully and take a few minutes to think about the topic before beginning to write.
  • Encouraging students to do their best without increasing the student’s anxiety.  An anxious student will not be able to demonstrate his writing ability as well as a student who is calm and focused.