Educational Terms and Definitions Made Simple for Parents

Parents Advancing Choice in Education, Inc. Dayton, Ohio

Introduction
This guide was developed to help parents become familiar with frequently used words, terms, and acronyms used by the educational community. By understanding and defining these terms, parents will more effectively communicate with the school community, thereby establishing home school partnerships. This will enable parents and teachers to work together for the successful education of all children. The purpose of this guide is to provide a resource to help our families become more comfortable with many terms that our used. Many of the terms that appear in this guide appear in current state and federal legislation.

Acknowledgements
This guide was created for parents by:

PACE
Parents Advancing Choice in Education, Inc. 1315 North Main Street Dayton, Ohio 45405 Phone: Fax: www.pacedayton.org April 2004 937.228.7223 937.226.1887

Ability Grouping

A classroom practice in which students with similar academic skills are placed together for instruction. Adult and Basic Literacy Education Programs designed to give attention to the educational needs of the adult learner.

ABLE

Academic Content Those standards developed by the Department of Standards Education specific to areas of content, ex. English and Math. It is the knowledge and skills students should attain. Accountability System Policies and procedures by which federal and stat governing agencies hold school districts and individual schools responsible for student performance. The difference between how low income and minority children perform on tests as compared with their peers. Tests that measure how much students have learned in various subjects. A national college admission and placement test. The average score is 20.8. The highest score is 36. It is the most widely accepted test of English, Math, Reading, and Science. Learning that involves the student by providing opportunities to move around and do things rather than sitting at their desks, filling out worksheets, or listening to the teacher.

Achievement Gap Achievement Tests ACT

Active learning

AYP

Adequate Yearly Progress An individual schools yearly progress toward achieving state academic standards. A report of combined test scores of students in a particular classroom, grade level, school district, or state. Attention-Deficit Disorder A clinically diagnosed disorder that makes it difficult for students to concentrate and control impulsive behaviors. Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder A neurological disorder where a persons brain functions differently causing extreme impulsive behavior. The practice of matching state content standards, curriculum, instruction, and assessment so that teachers teach to the standards and students are tested on what they are taught. An activity or written test that measures a students skills and/or knowledge in a particular subject area. Advanced Placement A program that allows high school students to take college level coursework and show mastery on a national AP exam. A complex neurological disorder that typically appears in the first three years of life. Children experience difficulty with verbal and non-verbal communication, social interaction, and difficulty relating to the outside world.

Aggregated test scores

ADD

ADHD

Alignment

Assessment

AP

Autism

Basal readers

Elementary books that have simple stories and practice exercises to teach reading. The basic building blocks of school curriculum, that usually refers to reading, writing, and math. When mastered a student has the ability to read aloud, comprehend what is read, add, subtract, multiply, and divide. A method used to increase the amount of time available for learning. Block schedule classes usually last 90 minutes. Learning that immerses learners in complex interactive experiences that are real and personally meaningful. It is a theory based on how the brain works.

Basic skills

Block scheduling

Brain-based Learning

Carnegie unit

A credit representing the completion of a high school course. School wide and classroom strategies to help children develop positive character traits such as respect, responsibility, caring, honesty, and citizenship.

Character Education

Charter Schools

Independent public schools designed and operated by educators, parents, and community leaders. Also known as Community Schools. Organization charged with the responsibility of providing various forms of oversight and assistance to a charter operator in hopes of running a successful school that delivers results it promised. Procedures teacher uses to create a productive learning environment. It includes productive use of time, materials, and resources as well as transitioning within instruction. Structure of the classroom including the furniture and displays. Childrens developing knowledge and skills that help them to think about and understand the world around them. An agreement between parents and school staff that spells out what each will do to help students succeed. The ability to understand and gain meaning from reading. A teaching method that puts students with different ability levels together to work on an assignment. Each student has a role. They work together to learn information, accomplish a task, and practice group skills. A traditional way of disciplining students that usually refers to paddling. It was banned in 1975 in most states. A standardized test to measure students performance related to academic objectives. The use of analysis and evaluation to think deeply about a concept.

Charter School Sponsor

Classroom management

Classroom organization Cognitive development Compact

Comprehension Cooperative learning

Corporal Punishment Criterion Referenced Test Critical thinking

Curriculum

The approved subject matter that teachers teach at each grade level.

Decoding

Translation of the letters in written words into sounds and combining the sound into meaningful words. Plans aimed at reducing racial isolation and improving racial balance.

Desegregation

Developmentally Appropriate Practice Differentiating Instruction

Curriculum and instruction that matches the physical and mental development of the student. Shaking up what goes on in the classroom so that students have multiple options for taking in information, making sense of ideas, and expressing what they learn. Test results are separated by student characteristics or other meaningful categories like comprehension. This practice allows teachers and parents to see how each student group is performing. Teachers use the information to improve instruction. A television image of a teacher broadcast to students in another location. It can be used to provide advanced coursework or work to small groups of students. A reading problem that causes children to transpose letters.

Disaggregated Data

Distance Learning

Dyslexia

Emergent Literacy

The idea that learning to read and write begins at birth and is developed through participation with adults in meaningful literacy-related activities. Education Management Information System The accounting system used by school districts to track and collect data about student information to improve accuracy of funding. Printed materials that are a part of everyday life, such as signs, billboards, and labels. Elementary and Secondary Education Act It is the old or first version of the NCLB Act. Originally passed in 1965, it was the first major federal aid program for local public schools. English as a Second Language Students whose native language is other than English. An educational approach that stresses hands-on experience. Young children experiment with writing by creating pretend and real letters.

EMIS

Environmental Print ESEA

ESL

Experiential Education Experimental Writing

Family Literacy

School programs that help parents improve their own literacy skills through GED classes. Other family literacy programs include tips for helping children with reading and writing at home. Teachers place students in small groups to teach or reteach specific skills. The groups change often as students master the skills. A different approach to traditional scheduling that includes increasing the time allotted for basic instruction. The ability to read text accurately and quickly.

Flexible Grouping

Flexible Grouping

Fluency

Formal Assessment

Refers to standardized tests that measure student progress.

Gender bias

Different treatment of girls and boys based on their sex, in a textbook or by a teacher or employer.

GED

General Educational Development exam An exam given to adults that certifies that the individual taking the exam has the skills equivalent to those of a high school graduate. The GED exam includes writing, social studies, science, math, literature, and the arts.

Gifted and Talented Programs for students who are identified as having high Education potential. The classes offer enrichment and advanced activities. Graphic Organizer Guided Reading Visual representation of ideas that help students organize new information. The teacher guides and assists students as they read aloud in small groups. Grade Point Average Mathematical measure of academic achievement.

GPA

Heterogeneous Grouping

A grouping practice that places students of different ability levels together for classroom instruction. Usually, high ability students are grouped with moderate and low ability students for specific assignments. Complex reasoning tasks that are beyond rote memory of facts. Students learn to analyze, compare, contrast, investigate, infer, generalize, and evaluate. It is the practice of applying prior knowledge.

Higher Order Thinking

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Home schooling

The practice of parents teaching their children at home rather than sending them to public or private school. A grouping practice that places students of like ability levels together. Students who need instruction in the same skills are often placed in flexible groups that change often.

Homogeneous Grouping

IDEA

The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act Legislation passed to strengthen and promote academic expectations and accountability for children with disabilities.

IEP

Individualized Education Plan An intervention strategy for special needs children. It is a written legal contract that states what service the school will provide. The practice of educating children with disabilities with their peers in a regular classroom. The IDEA Act requires that disabled children be educated in the least restrictive environment possible.

Inclusion

Informal Assessment

Informal methods teachers use to assess student progress, such as portfolios, demonstrations, products, checklists, and anecdotal records.

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IQ

Intelligence Quotient A measurement of mental ability. Many critics claim that it measures experience and the ability to do well in school rather than innate ability.

Job Sharing

Two or more school employees share one teaching position. Example: One teacher teaching the morning kindergarten class and another teaches the afternoon class. This practice is often used when teachers themselves have small children. Personal writing books young learners scribble, draw, and use their own spelling to write about their experiences. Older students may use journals as learning logs to document and process information and ideas.

Journals

Kindergarten Readiness

Strategies that parents and preschool teachers use to help young children get ready for kindergarten. The focus is on social/emotional learning, the joy of reading, and healthy physical development.

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Kindergarten Roundup

An orientation meeting for parents and their children who are scheduled to start Kindergarten. It provides an opportunity to meet the principal and teachers, to see the classroom, and to learn about the program. A series of tests and assessments to provide for students prior to the start of their Kindergarten year. Results are used as baseline data for measuring growth and determining skills to be introduced and taught.

Kindergarten Screening

Learning Styles

A way of learning how individuals learn. Classroom activities are then designed to address all the different ways that students acquire and process information. The ability to identify the names and shapes of the letters of the alphabet. Limited English Proficient As part of the NCLB Act, Title III funds are awarded based on the number of children with limited English proficiency. Local Education Agency A board of education that provides leadership for public elementary or secondary schools in a school district. Includes all the activities involved in speaking, listening, reading, writing, and appreciating both spoken and written language.

Letter Recognition

LEP

LEA

Literacy

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Magnet school

A public school that has a particular focus for all learning activities. (e.g. math, technology, the arts). The practice of placing students with disabilities into general education classrooms. Physical learning aids that students use to help them understand abstract concepts. Experienced teachers who provide mentoring assistance for newer teachers as well as professional development experiences. Defined as thinking about thinking, it helps students to check their understanding. An education philosophy and curriculum that looks beyond the white Western European tradition. A theory of teaching and learning that identifies eight types of intelligences: verbal-linguistic, logicalmathematic, visual-spatial, musical-rhythmic, bodilykinesthetic, naturalist, interpersonal, and intrapersonal.

Mainstreaming

Manipulatives

Master teacher

Metacognition

Multicultural Education Multiple Intelligences

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NAEP

National Assessment of Educational Progress Assessment of what American students knows and can do in various subjects. No Child Left Behind Act The federal law that provides guidance and money to assist schools and families in helping all children learn. Standardized test to compare the performance of students with their peers nationally.

NCLB

Norm Referenced Test

ODE

Ohio Department of Education The agency in Ohio that provides the oversight of operations, funding, and policy of local public schools and districts. Ohio Graduation Test Five (5) tests in reading, writing, math, science, and social studies used to ensure that students who receive a high school diploma demonstrate high school levels of achievement. It will replace the Ohio Proficiency Test. Ohio Proficiency Test Used at various grade levels to measure academic achievement to academic content standards.

OGT

OPT

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Open enrollment

Allows students to transfer in and out of schools providing space is available. An educational theory that guides curriculum by setting goals for students to accomplish. There is more focus on the output than the input.

Outcomes-based Education

Paraprofessional

A teaching assistant who helps a teacher in the classroom and often works with students.

Performance-based Requires students to show what they know and can do Education by performing a hands-on task (e.g. producing a play, conducting a science experiment). Phonemes The smallest parts of spoken language that combines to form words. The ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the individual sounds-phonemes-in spoken words. An understanding of the relationship between the sounds of spoken language and the letters in written language. An organized collection of a students work. The portfolio is often used as a demonstration that a student has acquired a specific set of skills. Parent Teacher Association Organization that provides information and support for parental involvement in education.

Phonemic Awareness Phonics

Portfolio

PTA

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Privatization

The transfer of management of public school operations to private or for profit educational organizations or private business. What students know about a topic before they are introduced to new learning. Term used to describe the time educators spend learning new ideas and skills to help children learn. Legislation allowing children in failing schools to transfer to another public school or charter school within the same district with transportation provided. Taking students from the regular classroom for additional instruction in a specific set of skills. Often the instruction is provided one-on-one or in small groups by specialists. Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test Provides practice for the SAT. It allows entrance to the National Merit Scholarship program.

Prior Knowledge

Professional Development Public School Choice

Pullout Program

PSAT

Qualitative data

Typically involve words rather than numbers. Sources for information related to qualitative inquiry might include observations, interviews, or focus groups. Typically involve counting measures or rating. May include surveys, rating scales, or checklists.

Quantitative data

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Quality Indicators

Standards and rubrics used to identify high quality educational practices, programs, curriculum, and materials.

Remedial Education Instruction that seeks to bring students deficient in basic skills up to standard levels. Report Card A report about each school in the state. It gives information about the schools student academic performance, student attendance, graduation rate, safety and discipline, teacher qualifications, and how taxpayer dollars are spent. Levels of performance that are defined ahead of time in terms of concrete, specific, and observable behaviors. Both students and teachers use rubrics to measure the improvement in student work.

Rubric

Spiral Instruction

Instruction that builds on what students already know and can do then provides support so that they can learn to do the next harder task.

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School Reform

Term that describes efforts to improve schools. Reform efforts focus on all aspects of schooling, from how schools are governed to what curriculum is taught in the classroom. Instructional strategy that integrates learning in the classroom with service in the community. Words that a child can read without having to sound them out. Subject-matter benchmarks to measure students academic achievement. Staff members that provide additional services to support students, such as a school nurse, psychologist, or counselor.

Service-learning

Sight vocabulary

Standards

Student Support Services

Teacher licensure

The process by which teachers receive state permission to teach. Minimum requirements must be met including student teaching, coursework, and testing. Federal program that [provides additional educational services for low income students and families. Students ability to go to another school in the district if the school the child currently attends is failing.

Title I

Transfer options

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Virtual School

When an educational program is provided through a specialized and individualized experience via computer. The words students must know to read and understand ideas. Opportunities for parents and community members to give their time to help in schools and classrooms.

Vocabulary

Volunteering

Voucher

Ticket that parents can use to pay tuition at an out-ofdistrict public school, private school, or religious school.

Word Recognition

Ability to identify printed words in order to figure out the meaning. A systematically organized collection of words displayed in large letters on a wall in the classroom. They are shared by a classroom of students to promote vocabulary development, writing skills, and group learning. An activity center in the classroom supplied with paper, pens, crayons, pencils, books, and other writing supplies for students to create original stories.

Word Wall

Writing Center

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Year-round school

School calendar that offers short breaks throughout the year, rather than the traditional summer vacation.

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Resources
Henderson, Anne T. No Child Left Behind: Whats in It for Parents Parent Leadership Associates (2002). Colorado Parent Information and Resource Center. RMC Research Corporation (2002) The ABC Book of Educational Terms A Plain

Language Guide For Parents.

Glossary of terms. Available: www.edweek.org/context/glossary/. ASCD Available: www.ascd.org/readingroom/.

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