This research sought to analyze the curriculum guideline goals and the performance of 8th grade school students in Paraná with respect to the Avaliação Nacional do Rendimento Escolar (ANRESC), the so-called Prova Brasil. Having obtained the results, an effort was made to establish a relationship between the curriculum guidelines and student performance in Portuguese Language on the Prova Brasil, in the state of Paraná. For data collection, the authors conducted interviews with Portuguese Language teachers and examined their action plans and the information recorded in their student roll call books while simultaneously considering the curriculum guidelines which underpin their school practices. The documents on curriculum that were consulted included: Currículo Básico para a Escola Pública do Estado do Paraná (PARANÁ, 1990), Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais: Língua Portuguesa (BRASIL, 1997) and the Diretrizes Curriculares de Língua Portuguesa para Educação Básica (PARANÁ, 2008).