The extent to which the instruction, assessment, and Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) test preparation activities of language arts teachers aligned with the Maryland Learning Outcomes (MLOs) and the reading and writing tasks on the MSPAP was studied in the 1996-97 school year. The reading and writing activities of 280 elementary and middle school language arts teachers were collected in the fall and spring and analyzed with a coding scheme. In general, the majority of the language teachers' classroom activities reflected some of the MLOs. However, the extent to which the classroom instruction and assessment activities reflect the many characteristics of the MSPAP tasks is more limited. Slightly more than one-third of the instruction and assessment tasks were classified at one of the two highest score levels on the MSPAP scale, and 49% of the reading and 66% of the writing MSPAP test preparation activities were classified at one of the two highest levels. These results support the results from language arts questionnaires suggesting that teachers have made changes in their instruction based on the MLOs and the MSPAP. (Contains 18 tables.) (SLD)