Active Literacy:

The integration of critical language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing into the daily curriculum in every class.

Alignment:

Agreement or coherence between the essential questions, content, skills, assessments, and the standards adopted by the district. Maps allow us to see three types of alignment: internal alignment, external alignment to standards, and cumulative alignment K-12.

Assessment Type:

The various kinds of assessments such as quiz, test, performance assessment, essay, etc. that allow students to demonstrate their learning.

Assessments:

Demonstrations of learning aligned to the benchmarks and standards that allow students to show you what they know. They are products and performances used as evidence of skill development and content understanding.

Ability grouping

 Assigning students with similar skills to learning groups.

Absence

Any part of a school day when a student is not in school.

Academic Achievement

What a student has learned from classroom instruction.

Academic Advisor

The member of the teaching staff assigned to provide school advice and guidance to students.

Accountability

The expectation that schools and/or educators should be held responsible for improving student achievement and should be rewarded or sanctioned for their success or lack of success in doing so.

Accreditation

Official recognition that a person or an organization meets specific requirements to be able to deliver instruction.

Accuracy

The ability to correctly read, write, and solve problems.

Achievement Gap

A consistent difference in academic test scores between groups of students. The gaps most frequently referred to are those between white students and minority groups such as African-American and Hispanic students.

Achievement Tests

Tests used to measure how much a student has learned in various school subjects.

Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)

The minimum level of improvement established by the federal government, that public schools must achieve each year

Administrator

A school district employee, such as principal, director, or superintendent, who is responsible for directing and managing a school or program.

Advanced Placement (AP) Program

A series of high-level courses that high school students can take to earn college credits.

Advisory Group

A small group of students who meet regularly with a school staff member to discuss school work and requirements.

Advocate

(noun) Someone who acts on behalf of another person.

Advocate (To)

(verb) To support or speak in favor of an idea, issue, or person(s).

Affective

A term which refers to emotions and attitudes.

After-school Program

Programs run by schools and/or organizations that provide recreational and learning activities for students after the end of the regular school day or on the weekends.

Alignment

How well the skills and knowledge taught in schools match the requirements of state and/or federal learning standards.

Alternative Assessment

Any form of measuring what students know and are able to do other than traditional tests. Examples are oral reports, projects, performances, experiments, portfolios (collections of student’s work), and class participation.

Alternative School

A public school designed by a school district to serve students whose needs are not being met in the traditional public school environment.

American College Test (ACT)

The ACT is one of the two commonly used tests designed to assess high school students' general educational development and their ability to complete college-level work.

Appeal

A request for a person or entity with greater authority to review and change an earlier decision.

Apprenticeship

A combination of on-the-job training (OJT) and related classroom instruction under the supervision of a trade professional.

Aptitude Tests

Tests that attempt to predict a person's ability to do something.

Articulation Agreement

An agreement between a high school or skill center and a community or technical college that allows the high school or skill center to offer college credit for a secondary career and technical education (CTE) course.

Assessment

Teacher-made tests, standardized tests, or tests from textbook companies that are used to measure a student's skills or knowledge.

Associate Degree

An award showing that a student has completed a two-year course of study in a community college.

Average

Usual, expected, or ordinary performance.

Average Daily Attendance (ADA)

The total number of days of student attendance divided by the total number of days in the regular school year.

AVID

AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination and is a fourth-through twelfth-grade system to prepare students for four-year college eligibility. Schools that participate in AVID are required to meet staff training and membership requirements.

Benchmarks

 Specific developmental statements regarding performance based standards. Benchmarks are usually defined in behavioral and observable terms.

Bi-level analysis

 The examination of student work and performance data on two levels the subject matter concepts and skills and the requisite language capacity (e.g. linguistic patterns, three types of distinctive vocabulary, and editing and revising strategies.

Big Ideas

 Are important core concepts, understandings, or theories. They go beyond discrete skills and focus on larger concepts, processes, or themes.

Bachelor’s Degree

An award that normally requires at least four years of full-time equivalent college courses.

Basic Skills

The fundamental skills needed to succeed in school and eventually in life. Historically, these skills have included the ability to read, write, and calculate (math).

Becca Bill

A Washington state law that requires school districts to take specific actions when students are absent. The law is RCW 28A.225.030.

Below Average

Under the usual, expected, or ordinary quality or performance.

Benchmark

The level of performance students should show by a particular point in their schooling.

Best Practices

Classroom instructional strategies that have been demonstrated and accepted by the professional community to improve student learning.

Bilingual Education

School program where two languages are used to teach the curriculum so that students gain knowledge of both languages.

Block Scheduling

Usually used in middle or high school, this scheduling allow student to have fewer classes per day and longer time in each class.

Bond Measure

An agreement by the citizens of a school district to repay the money borrowed by the school district for major construction or purchases, such as new school buildings, computers, or school improvements.

Boosters

A volunteer organization, usually parents and alumni, whose sole objective is to provide ongoing financial assistance in support of a schools’ extracurricular programs, for example athletic program boosters or music boosters.

Breakfast Program

A program using state and federal dollars to provide low-cost or free breakfasts to low income students.

Budget

The plan for how to spend the school’s or school district’s funds.

Bulletin

A printed news publication.

Bullying

Repeated negative behavior that a person uses to take advantage of someone with less power. A bully is someone who uses bullying behavior.

Coaching Protocols

 Tools that include the critical criteria for exemplary products. They are used to sharpen focus and ensure quality work.

Concept

 A relational statement that provides the focus and basis for acquiring knowledge. It is synonymous with the enduring understanding or big idea.

Content

 Is the subject matter; key concepts; facts; topics; important information.

Consensus/Core Maps

  Agreed upon curriculum identified by teachers and administrators that determines which elements must be consistently taught by all teachers in a course/or subject and where flexibility will be critical.

Curriculum Mapping

 Is a systemic process that can improve student performance by sharpening the alignment of all aspects of the curriculum to reduce repetitions, gaps, and strengthen the articulation of skills.

Cadre

A group.

Calendar Day

Refers to all days of the week, including weekends and holidays.

Career and Technical Education (CTE)

Classes that allow students to get credit for training in a skill or trade while still in high school. CTE classes may be held on-site or at a skill center.

Categorical Funds

Funds from the state or federal government granted to qualifying school districts for specific programs and/or for particular groups of students.

Certificate of Individual Achievement

An official document available for students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) who are unable to take the High School HSPE (with or without accommodations).

Certificated Staff

School employees who are required by the state to hold teaching certificates. Also referred to as Certified Staff.

Character Education

A method that teaches students about basic human values.

Charter School

A school that is run by a group of organizers other than the school board and free from most state and local regulations.

Classroom Management

The way a classroom is organized to make instructional time as productive possible for all students.

Class Size

The number of students enrolled in a school classroom.

Closed Campus

A school where students are not allowed to leave the school grounds during the school day without permission.

Cognitive

A term which refers to reasoning or intellectual capacity.

Cognitive Development

The changes in the way children think, process information, and learn as they grow up.

Cognitive Learning

The mental processes involved in learning, such as remembering and understanding facts and ideas.

Collaboration

Individuals working together to accomplish goals.

Collaborative Learning

An instructional strategy where students of different abilities and interests work together in small groups to solve a problem, complete a project, or achieve a common goal. Also known as Cooperative Learning.

College Readiness

The level of preparation a student needs to be ready to enroll and succeed, without remediation, in credit-bearing college course.

Community Schools

Schools that provide essential services, such as medical and dental services, nutrition classes, parent programs, and social services, for both students and families.

Community College

A two-year college, may also be known as a Junior College.

Competence Tests

Tests created by a school district or state that students must pass before graduating.

Complex sentences

Sentences with more than one clause or verbal phrase.

Comprehension

This is a term used to describe the interpretations, understanding, and meaning readers construct as they listen to and read stories.

Computer-assisted Instruction (CAI)

Educational programs delivered through the use of computers and educational software.

Conflict Management

A strategy that schools use to prevent and address conflict among students. It usually includes a set of expectations for behavior.

Conflict Resolution

A defined practice based on an understanding that there are various perspectives to address and solve a problem.

Constructivism

A learning theory that states that students learn by creating their own knowledge. Also known as Discovery Learning.

Contempt of Court

Someone who has willfully violated a court order can be judged to be in contempt of court.

Contempt Hearing

The court hearing where a judge determines whether or not someone is in contempt of court.

Content Standards

Standards that describe what students should know and be able to do in core academic subjects at each grade level.

Content-related Vocabulary

The words a student must know to communicate effectively about subject area material such as math, social studies, science, etc.

Context Clues

The words, phrases, and sentences surrounding an unfamiliar vocabulary word that help the student arrive at a possible definition.

Continuous Progress

A system of education in which individuals or small groups of students go through a sequence of lessons at their own pace, rather than at the pace of the entire classroom group.

Conditional Certificate

A temporary teaching certificate given to a person who has expertise in a particular subject and that has been hired by a school district because they cannot find a certificated teacher with an endorsement in that subject.

Core Academic Subjects

The academic subjects schools and districts require all students to take in order to be eligible for grade promotion and graduation.

Core Curriculum

The main body of knowledge that all students are expected to learn.

Credit

A unit of coursework given for satisfactory completion of the course.

Criterion-referenced Tests

Tests designed to measure how thoroughly a student has learned a particular subject compared to an established benchmark.

Critical Thinking

Logical thinking based on sound evidence. Who, What, Where, When, Why and How

Cultural Competence

A set of attitudes, awareness, knowledge, and skills that enables effective teaching in racially, culturally and socio-economically diverse classrooms.

Curriculum

The subject matter that is to be learned.

Curriculum Materials

Text, audio, video, and/or electronic media used to teach the curriculum of a school or subject area.

Cut Score

The minimum score needed to pass a test.

Cyber Schools

Educational institutions that offer most or all of their instruction by computer through the internet.

Diary Maps

 A map where data are entered on an ongoing basis.   Periodically, whether every few weeks or trimester, you will stop and reflect on your work with learners and make an entry. 

Differentiation

 The process of modifying or delineating some aspect of instruction the content, process, product, and/or learning environment to address the needs of the learners.

Differentiated Professional Development

 Is modified professional development based on the level of understanding of the learners.

Decoding

The process of translating individual letters or groups of letters into sounds so that the reader can pronounce a word.

Descriptive Sentences

Sentences that contain modifying words or phrases (adjectives and adverbs) and are more elaborate than simple sentences.

Detention

A disciplinary action that removes a student from the classroom to another designated space within the school.

Developmentally Appropriate

Curriculum and instruction that is based on the mental and physical development of the student.

Developmental Screening Tests

Tests used to identify students who may have physical, behavioral, and/or developmental disabilities or delays, or sensory impairments.

DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills)

A testing tool that helps teachers determine at what level students in 6th grades Kindergarten through are able to read and write.

Differentiated Instruction

An instructional technique that includes various ways to teach content and assess learning. It is used to meet student needs and differences in readiness, interests, and learning styles.

Diploma

A certificate conferred by a high school, college, university or other educational institution as official recognition for the completion of a program of studies.

Direct Instruction

A teaching technique in which the teacher presents the content and students are expected to respond in a specific manner.

Discipline

All forms of corrective action or punishment used with students.

Distance Learning

Taking classes in locations other than the classroom or places where teachers present the lessons including online, DVD, or telecommuting.

Diversity

Diversity involves recognizing a variety of student characteristics including those of ethnicity, language, socioeconomic class, disabilities, and gender.

Dismissed

When a court case is dismissed, it ends.

DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment)

A tool teachers use to assess and record Kindergarten to 3rd grade students' reading development.

Dropouts

Students who leave high school before graduating.

Dual Credit

A course or program where high school students can earn both high school and college credits for the same course.

Dual-language Program

A school program designed to serve both language minority and language majority students at the same time. Students from two language groups receive instruction in both languages. Also known as Dual Immersion Program.

Due Process of Law

Ensures that a person will be notified and have an opportunity to be heard before any public entity can change her/his rights.

Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities.

Enduring Understanding

 The important understandings that have lasting value beyond the classroom.

Entry Points

 Possible openings or entrances where curriculum mapping can be integrated into the current structure or processes in a school and/or district. This allows it to become part of the system.

Essential Questions

 Over-arching questions that focus based on a key concept, enduring understanding, and/or big idea to prompt inquiry.

Essential Maps

 A revision of agreements that are made by teachers and administrators that determine which elements must be consistently taught by all teachers in the course and where flexibility will be critical.

EALR (Essential Academic Learning Requirement)

Washington State’s definition of what all students should know and be able to do as a graduate of public schools.

Early Childhood Education

The education of pre-school age children.

Electronic Media

The different electronic sources such as television, web pages, e-mail, CDs, etc. that may provide information or be used to share information.

ELL (English Language Learner)

A person learning English whose primary language is other than English.

Emergency Expulsion

Immediate removal of a student from school or class for an indefinite period of time.

Emergent Literacy

The view that reading and writing learning begins at birth and is supported by adult interactions.

Emotional Development

The ways in which individuals learn to interact in socially acceptable ways, establish and maintain relationships, and view themselves in positive ways.

Enrichment

Topics and activities that are not considered part of basic education.

Environmental Education

An educational practice that builds students’ awareness of the natural world and how to protect it.

Equal Access

Case law based on religious non-discrimination. It requires schools that allow extra-curricular, voluntary-participation student clubs to meet on school property to also allow extra-curricular school use to religious groups.

ESL (English as a Second Language)

English language instruction for students whose primary language is not English.

Evaluate

To conduct a careful appraisal or study of something and determine its worth or value.

Expenditure

All amounts of money paid out by a school system.

Experiential Education

Education that emphasizes learning from experiences rather than from lectures, books, and other secondhand sources and which may take the form of internships, service learning, school-to-work programs, field studies, or similar experiences.

Expulsion

Removal of a student from school, class, or sometimes district property for an indefinite period of time.

Extra-curricular Activities

Activities that are not part of the required curriculum and that take place outside of the regular course of study.

Fact Finding Hearing

A court procedure where a judge determines whether a legal case can be made against an individual.

Familiar Sounds

Sounds that students hear or speak in their primary language.

Family involvement in education

Another term for parent participation in the education of their children .

FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)

A federal law that protects the privacy of student education records.

Financial Aid

Grants, loans, and funds provided by the government for college expenses, such as college tuition, textbooks, and sometimes the living costs of students.

Fine Motor

Functions which require tiny muscle movements, for example, writing or typing.

Fluency

The ability to read a text accurately, quickly, and with proper expression and comprehension.

Formative Assessment

A test that determines what students have learned at a particular time in order to plan further instruction. Also knows as Formative Test.

Free or Reduced-Price Meal

A federal program that provides breakfast, lunch, and/or after school snacks for students from low-income families.

Functional Illiteracy

The inability to read or write well enough to perform many basic, necessary tasks in daily life.

Guardian

Person legally placed in charge of the welfare of a minor or of someone incapable of managing her or his own affairs.

GEAR-UP

(Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) A federal grant program created to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in college.

Gender Bias

The idea that one gender or the other is short-changed by school practices and expectations.

General Educational Development (GED) Test

A high school equivalency test certifies that a person has the skills and knowledge equal to those of a high school graduate.

General Vocabulary

Words that are critical to understanding the main idea, events, characters, themes of a lesson.

Generalize

To arrive at a broad conclusion based upon a small piece of evidence. May also be referred to as Generalization.

Genres

A term used to classify literary and informational works into categories, such as biography, mystery, historical fiction, etc.

Gifted and Talented Program

A program that offers advanced coursework to students identified as being academically gifted or talented.

GLE (Grade Level Expectation)

The essential content or subject matter to be learned by students at a specific grade level.

Grade Point Average (GPA)

A system of scoring student achievement. Student's GPA is computed by multiplying the grade received in each course by the number of credits offered for each course, then dividing by the total number of credit hours studied.

Graduate

A student who has received a diploma for successfully completing a program or school’s course requirements.

Graduate School

University level school that provides instruction and degrees beyond the bachelor degree.

Graduation Requirements

The courses and number of credits required by a school district or the state to receive a high school diploma. The state provides a minimum set of requirements, and school boards can set additional graduation requirements for their school district.

Grant

Funds provided for students to attend college that do not have to be repaid.

Graphic Features

Maps, diagrams, graphs, charts, or pictures that help make the text meaningful and interesting to readers.

Graphing Calculator

A calculator with a larger display that draws and displays math functions and data.

Gross motor

Functions which require large muscle movements, for example, walking or jumping.

Guidance Counselor

School staff member who provides academic advice to students and their families, helps them address learning problems, and assists students in career and personal development.

Guided Practice

A teacher-led activity that the class completes together.

HUB

 a connector or linchpin that connects all aspects of the school improvement process.

Head Start Program

A federally sponsored preschool program for children from low-income families.

Health Education

Curriculum that addresses physical, mental, emotional, and social health.

Hearing Examiner/Officer

The decision-maker in school discipline hearings.

Heterogeneous Grouping

The practice of grouping together students of varying abilities, interests, or ages for instruction.

Higher Education

Study beyond high school at a college or university that results in an associate, bachelor, or higher degree. Also known as Post-secondary Education.

Higher-Order Questions

Questions that require thinking and reflection rather than single-solution responses.

Higher-Order Thinking Skills

The ability to understand complex concepts and apply sometimes conflicting information to solve a problem that may have more than one correct answer.

High Frequency Words

High utility words which make up 50% of printed text, for example A, the, this, that, etc

Highly Qualified Teacher

Teachers are required by federal law (NCLB) to meet following three criteria to be considered highly qualified

1) Holds at least a bachelor’s degree.

2) Holds full state certification. (Graduate Diploma in Education)

3) Demonstrates subject matter knowledge and teaching skill in each core academic subject assigned to teach.

High School

Generally grades 7th through 12th

Homework

Regular assignments to be completed outside the classroom.

Honors Program

Courses a school or district designs and offers to students to challenge their learning beyond the regular curriculum.

Individual Maps

 Maps developed by an individual teach that reflect what they teach in their class or subject. They include essential questions, content, skills, and assessments.

Initiatives

 Programs, projects, and/or ideas implemented by schools and/or districts to improve some aspect of the system.

Illiteracy

Lack of reading and/or writing skills.

Immersion

A program that teaches children to speak, read, and write in another language by instructing them in that language.

Inclusion

The practice of educating all children of various needs and capabilities in the same classroom.

Incomplete

A temporary grade stating that a student has not finished all class assignments at the end of a grading period.

Independent Study

An opportunity for students to conduct self-directed learning and receive credit.

Individualized Instruction

Also called Individualized Education, Differentiated Curriculum, Individualized Education, or Differentiated Instruction.

A practice provides each student with the lessons and assignments according to her/his strengths and needs. Students work at their own pace to learn the material.

Inference

A conclusion reached after reading text and using past knowledge and experience to understand it.

Informal Knowledge

Knowledge about a topic that students learn through experience outside of the classroom.

Inquiry

A process in which students explore a problem, and create and work through a plan to solve the problem.

Inquiry-based Learning

An instructional method where students create questions about a phenomenon, fact, or piece of literature, and work to answer their questions through an exploration of the topic.

In Loco Parentis

Refers to an individual who takes on the parent role and responsibilities for a child without formally adopting him/her.

Integrated Curriculum

The practice of using a single theme to teach a variety of subjects.

Internship

Workplace learning that gives students an opportunity to apply their knowledge and learn new skills.

In-service

Continuing professional education for educators. Also known as Staff Development or Professional Development.

Instructional Aide

A school employee assigned to help teachers with the education of students. Also known as an Instructional Assistant, Para-educator, or Para-professional.

Interactive Learning

Occurs when the teacher or computer software adjusts the instruction in response to the learner’s needs.

Interdisciplinary Curriculum

A way to organize curriculum in which content is drawn from two or more subject areas to focus on a particular topic or theme. Also referred to as Multidisciplinary Curriculum, Integration, or Integrated Curriculum.

International Baccalaureate (IB)

IB courses are offered as part of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, a rigorous two-year curriculum (geared primarily to students aged 16 to 19) that leads to a degree that is widely recognized internationally. It prepares students for a university education, with a specific focus on the ability to communicate with and understand people from other countries and cultures.

Interpretation

The process of verbally communicating information from one language into another language keeping the intent and meaning of the original information.

K-12

Refers to Kindergarten through 12th grade education.

Kindergarten Entry Age

The age when children are eligible to enroll in Kindergarten, usually at least 5 years old.

Lessons

 Organized instructional plans aligned to assessment targets. The concept of "planning backwards" suggests that you start your design work with the assessment targets and tasks fully described. Once that is accomplished, you design your lessons so students are fully instructed around the content and skills that will be called for in those assessments. It is a reverse of the model that asked for lesson plans and then later for assessment designs. The "backward planning" provides a clear lens for examining your instructional time to make certain that it is purposeful toward benchmarks and standards.

Like Group Reviews

Read Throughs that focus on a specific curricular area. For example, all of the teachers in the Language Arts Department might read through the course maps for their department to look for gaps, repetitions, and the articulation of skills.

Language Arts

Another term for English curriculum. The focus is on reading, speaking, listening, and writing skills.

Learner-centered Classroom

Classroom in which students are encouraged to choose their own learning goals and projects. Also known as a Student-Centered Classroom.

Learning Contract

An agreement between a student, teacher, parent (or other adult as a family member) detailing how the student will work toward specified learning objectives.

Learning Disability

A condition that interferes with a student’s ability to learn. Also known as a Learning Disorder.

Learning Styles

Differences in the way students learn best including through hearing, seeing, or doing the learning task.

Letter of Recommendation

A letter written by a teacher or other adult that supports a student’s application for a program, college, or a job.

Levy

(noun) An additional sum to property taxes within a school district for education-related expenditures. Residents of the school district vote on whether to pay these levy taxes.

Levy

(verb) To impose taxes.

LEP (Limited English Proficient) Students

Students who are reasonably fluent in another language but who have not yet achieved comparable skills in reading, writing, listening, or speaking English. Also known as English Language Learner (ELL).

Literacy

Ability to read and write. Also refers to other types of knowledge and skills such as scientific literacy, computer literacy, etc.

Literal

The common or ordinary meaning of words.

Local Revenues

The money a school district receives from local taxes, investments, and student activities.

Long-Term Suspension

Exclusion from school for more than 10 days.

Looping

A school practice where the teacher moves with his or her students to the next grade level, rather than sending them to another teacher the next school year.

Map

 A visual method for projecting yearly plans as well as monthly plans for the classroom based on a calendar sequence from month to month that describes the scope of what is taught. Maps include essential questions, content, skills, and assessments.

Mixed Group Reviews

 Read Throughs of maps that involve teachers from different curricular areas. These types of reviews can help provide a better understanding of the curriculum across the school and/or district. They can also be used to identify where specific cross curricular skills or specific school and/or district goals are included in the curriculum.

Mainstream

To place students with disabilities into regular classrooms with the supports defined in their Individualized Education Plan.

Magnet Schools

An alternative public school that often focuses on a particular area of study, such as performing arts or science and technology, in addition to the core curriculum.

Manipulatives

Any object, for example, blocks, toothpicks, or coins, that can be used to represent or model a problem situation or develop a mathematical concept.

McKinney-Vento Act (Homeless Bill 2013 Australia)

Federal legislation that provides educational services to homeless students which are equal to all other enrolled students, and ensures that homeless children and youth have equal opportunities to enroll in, attend, and be successful in school.

Measurement of Student Progress (MSP)

Beginning in the 2009-10 school year, the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) for grades 3rd through 8th will be replaced by the Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) to identify students’ abilities in math (grades 3rd through 8th), reading (grades 3rd through 8th), science (grades 5th and 8th), and writing (grades 4th and 7th). The testing window for the MSP will be in May beginning spring 2010.

Mediation

A strategy for conflict resolution which relies upon a neutral third party work to help parties arrive at an agreed upon compromise.

Mentor

To serve as a role model for another person.

MESA (Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement)

The MESA program assists academically disadvantaged students, especially students of color, girls, and students in poverty, by helping them to prepare for and successfully complete a 4•year college program

Middle School

Schools for students in the early adolescent years, generally grade 6th through grade 8th .

Modeling

The practice of demonstrating to the learner how to do a task, so that the learner can copy the model. It often includes thinking aloud or talking about how to work through a task.

Multi-age Classroom

A classroom that includes children from different grades.

Multi-disciplinary Curriculum

Generally refers to learning a particular topic area through the viewpoint of more than one subject.

Multiple Intelligences

A theory of intelligence developed in the 1980s by Howard Gardner that broadly defines intelligence beyond mathematical and linguistic, to include musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, and intrapersonal.

Non-negotiables

 The core elements that must be taught in the curriculum.

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

Also called “the Nation’s Report Card,” this federal test uses groups of students in grades 4th , 8th and 12th from around the country to measure progress in reading, mathematics, science, writing, U.S. history, civics, geography, and the arts. Scores are reported nationally and by state, but not for individual students or schools.

Navigation 101

A program for students in grades 7th through 12th with the goal to help students make plans, set class schedules, and prepare for life beyond high school.

Neighborhood Schools

Public schools nearest to students’ homes as determined by school district attendance boundaries.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

A federal law that requires yearly student testing, consequences for schools or districts that do not meet standards, and requires all teachers and assistants to be highly qualified.

Non-verbal Communication

Messages sent by way of gestures and other body language, and drawings.

Notice

Notification of an action that usually contains information about legal rights to appeal a decision.

Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI)

The primary state agency charged with overseeing K-12 education in Washington State.

Office of the Education Ombudsman (OEO)

A state agency that helps resolve problems and disputes between families and schools. (www.waparentslearn.org)

Ombudsman

A person that helps resolve conflict or disputes.

On-Time Graduation rate

The number of students who started grade 9th in the fall of a particular year and are expected to graduate four years later.

Open-Ended Question

A question that can be answered in more than one way and may have more than one correct answer.

Outcomes

What students are supposed to know and be able to do.

Power Standards

 The most important standards.

Professional/Implementation Development Map

 Is an organizational tool that using the mapping format to develop a yearlong plan for implementation. It includes the training times, the essential questions, the content to be taught, the skills that participants should demonstrate, the products or evidence that will be produced during the training, and the assignment(s) that participants should complete prior to the next training.

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)

 A conceptual model developed by Richard DuFour and his colleagues for transforming schools. It focuses on the following principles A Shared Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals; Collaborative Teams; Collective Inquiry; Action Orientations and Experimentations, Continuous Improvement, and Results Orientation.

Projected/Projection Maps

 A map that has been created prior to teaching a course or subject and then revised on an ongoing basis as the school year progresses.

Portfolios

 Is a representative collection of a person’s work that serves as evidence of understanding.

Parent Involvement

The participation of parents in the education of their children.

Parent Teacher Association (PTA)

A national, nonprofit organization, independent of the public school system that supports family involvement in schools and advocates for children. When student members are included, the name often becomes PTSA or Parent Teacher Student Association.

Parent Teacher Conference

A meeting where the parents and the teacher of a particular student discuss present and future academic progress.

Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO)

A local, school-based, organization of parents, and others to support family and public involvement in the school and advocate for students.

Pedagogy

The art or profession of teaching.

Peer Mediation

Programs in which students are trained in conflict resolution and assist other students to work through problems without using violence.

Performance Assessment

A test that determines what students know through their ability to perform certain tasks.

Performance Criteria

The skills or knowledge that will be evaluated as a student completes a task.

Performance Tasks

Activities, exercises, or problems that require students to show what they can do.

Per-pupil Expenditures

Expenditures made by schools, a school district, or the state divided by the total number of students in the school, school district, or state.

Petition for Readmission

A request to have a student return to school before the end of an expulsion or suspension.

Phonemic Awareness

The ability to identify and combine individual sounds (phonemes) into spoken words.

Phonics

An instructional strategy used to teach reading. It helps beginning readers by teaching them letter-sound relationships and having them sound out words.

Picture Dictionary

A dictionary that defines words using pictures and graphics.

Placement Exam

A skills test given to new students to determine what class or courses are best for their abilities and interests.

Policy

A piece of legislation, norm, or regulation.

Portable

A building, often with one or two rooms, that is used as a classroom and can be moved when it is no longer needed.

Portfolio

A collection of work that demonstrates and documents the student's learning progress over time. It might include writing samples, examples of math problems, and results of science experiments.

Prerequisite

A course that must be completed before a student is allowed to register for a more advanced course.

Primary Language

A student's first language. The language spoken at home.

Principal

The certificated hired by the Superintendent to manage the day-to-day business of the school, supervise and evaluate school staff.

Professional Development

Programs that allow teachers or administrators to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to perform their jobs successfully. Also known as Inservice.

Proficiency

The ability to do something at grade level.

Prompt

Pictures or words to which a student responds orally or in writing.

Pull-out Programs

The practice of providing instruction in small groups outside of the regular classroom in order to give particular students additional learning opportunities.

Pupil

A student.

Purge

An action to be done by an individual found to be in violation of a court order.

Quality Lenses

 Are exemplary samples (e.g. maps, standards, etc.) from other schools and states that can serve as filters when developing quality Consensus maps.

Quick Write

An exercise where students quickly write down everything they know about a topic.

Quota

The number or amount constituting a proportional share.

Quotation

The repeated statement from a person or from text. When written, it is enclosed in quotation marks.

Quorum

The minimum number of members of a group required to be present at a meeting in order to make decisions for an organization.

Read Through Process

 The process following the development of the maps in which the teachers become editors for the maps for the entire building.

Readability

The level of difficulty in a written passage.

Reference Tools

Materials for students to refer to in order to check spelling, word meaning, grammar, etc., such as picture dictionaries and/or bilingual dictionaries. see Student Compendium

Relief Teacher

A certified teacher who teaches classes when the regular teacher is absent.

Remedial Class

Instruction, usually in addition to regular classroom learning, that provide additional time or attention for a student to learn what’s expected at their grade level.

Report Card

The record of student attendance and grades for each grading period and the entire school year. Student report cards are sent home for parent review each grading period.

Response to Intervention (RTI)

A tool that helps educators identify students at risk for poor learning outcomes, provide evidence-based instructional strategies, monitor student progress, and adjust the interventions in response to students’ reaction to the intervention.

Rubric

A grading or scoring system that lists what work students must show to be proficient. Also called a Scoring Guide.

Running Start

A college preparation option that permits students in grades 11th and 12th to take courses on local community and technical college campuses and earn credit toward both high school graduation and a college degree.

School based Support Structures

 Key programmatic structures that have a direct effect on curriculum, assessment, and instruction Schedule (daily, annual, long-term), grouping of students (within classrooms, throughout the institution, and by class size), grouping of personnel (into teams, departments, and roles).

Seven Essentials Strategies for Integrating Literacy

 Are specific strategies for integrating critical language skills across the curriculum identified by Heidi Hayes Jacobs. The strategies include revising and expanding the role of all teaches so they incorporate speaking, reading, listening, and writing activities with all learners in all subjects; organizing vocabulary into three distinctive types (high-frequency words, specialized terminology, and embellishing words) with specific instructional approaches in every classroom; developing creative note taking strategies that cause students to extract and react to information; designing and employing a consistent editing and revising framework for writing K-12; assessing formal speaking skills through the use of discussion approaches; employing technical instruction to develop the human voice and body as communication instruments; and using curriculum mapping as the school- and district-wide tool for implementing and monitoring the use of these strategies.

Seven-Step Curriculum Mapping Review Process

 The process or sequence developed by Heidi Hayes Jacobs for creating and analyzing curriculum maps in a school and/or district. The steps include Collecting the Data, The First Read Through, Small Like/Mixed-Group Review, Large Like/Mixed Group Review Comparisons, Determine Immediate Revision Points, Determine Points Requiring Some Research and Planning, and Plan for the Next Review Cycle.

Skills

Are the targeted proficiencies; technical actions and strategies.

Standards

 Statements that reflect the larger outcomes that we expect all students to be able to demonstrate before they leave our school. Most State Departments of Education have already established standards. Districts often add to those standards based on their local needs.

Student Mapping

Digital portfolios.

Sanctions

Another word for punishment.

Scaffolding

An instructional technique in which the teacher breaks a complex task into smaller tasks and supports students as they learn, and then gradually shifts responsibility for learning to the students.

School-Based Management

A system of school governance by which many school level decisions are made by the individual school rather than at district or other agency level. Also known as Site-Based Management or Site-Based Decision Making.

School Board

The school board is formed by School Board Directors or members. They set goals and policy, hire and supervise the Superintendent, and manage the finances of the school district.

School Board Directors

Citizens who live within a school district and are elected by other citizens to be part of the school board of directors.

School Choice

The opportunity for families to choose which schools their children will attend.

School Culture

The values, cultures, safety practices, and organizational structures that cause a school community to function and react in particular ways. Also knows as School Climate or School Environment.

School Day

Any day, including a partial day, when students attend school for instruction.

School District

The organization responsible for providing free public education for school-age children residing within a specific area of a city, county, or state.

School-Family Partnership

Collaborative relationships between educators and family members based on mutual respect, trust, equality and shared goals that support and focus on student academic success.

School Improvement Plan (SIP)

The long-term plan schools create with staff and parents to ensure that all students are achieving at high levels.

School Improvement Status

The consequences faced by schools and districts that do not meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) required by No Child Left Behind federal legislation.

School Readiness

The basic background and knowledge that children are usually expected to have upon entering kindergarten.

School Records

Any information about a student kept by the school.

School-to-Work

A curriculum that integrates academic study with up-to-date career and technical education and work-readiness skills.

Scientifically-based Research

Research about educational programs and activities that uses systemic and objective procedures that provide results considered reliable and valid.

Section 504 Plan

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 extended civil rights to people with disabilities. It allows for reasonable accommodations as necessary for each student. Services, accommodations, and program modifications for students who qualify under Section 504 are outlined in a document called “504 Plan.”

Self-correction

Student recognizes and corrects error without input from others.

Self-efficacy

Learners' beliefs about their capacity of succeeding when learning specific topics or tasks.

Self-esteem

An affective or emotional reaction to the self.

Sign Language

A way of communicating that uses signs made with the hands, facial expressions, and body movements.

Sight Vocabulary

Words that a reader can immediately read without having to decode. Also known as Sight Words.

Snow Day

Refers to a day that schools are closed because of unsafe winter weather. It can also refer to the day added to the school calendar that replaces the missed school time.

Social Studies

Includes the subjects of civics, geography, economics, history, and the skills of research, reasoning, and analysis that students should be able to use in their studies of these subjects.

Social Promotion

The practice of promoting students to the next grade whether or not they have accomplished the goals of their current grade.

Special Education

Instruction provided for students with disabilities according to the requirements of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). (See also Special Education Glossary section of this publication)

Special Needs Students

Students who require special instructional programs to reach their learning potential.

Standardized Achievement Tests (SAT) 

A test widely used as a college entrance examination. Also known as the SAT Reasoning Test (formerly called the Scholastic Aptitude Test).

Standardized Testing

A test provided in the same format for all who take it.

Standards

Statements of what students should know and be able to demonstrate.

Statute

A piece of legislation, law.

Story Elements

The critical parts of a story include character, setting, plot, problem, solution.

Student-centered Classroom

Classroom in which students are encouraged to choose their own learning goals and projects. Also known as Learner-centered Classroom.

Student Learning Plan (SLP)

A formal education document to provide regular communication to parents about the student’s continued academic progress and to assure that students are on track for high school graduation.

Student-led Conference

A variation of the parent-teacher conference in which the student prepares for the conference and leads it by showing the parents or family members samples of her work and discussing areas of strengths and weaknesses.

Student Study Team

A team of educators and school staff that comes together at the request of a classroom teacher, parent, or counselor to develop a support system to meet the needs of a particular student. Also referred to as a Multi-disciplinary Team or Student Intervention Team.

Student Teacher

A teacher in training whose practice teaching is supervised by certificated staff or teacher.

Substitute Teacher

A certified teacher who teaches classes when the regular teacher is absent.

Summary

A condensed form of a particular piece of information.

Summons

An official call or notice to attend court at a specific date and time for a particular purpose.

Superintendent

The person hired by the School Board to manage the day-to-day business of the school district. The superintendent evaluates other district administrators and principals.

Superintendent of Public Instruction

The individual elected by the state’s voters to lead the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).

Supplemental Education

Additional instruction to basic education.

Suspension

A disciplinary action that removes a student from school for a definite period of time. Long-term suspensions last for more than 10 days; short term suspensions last fewer than 10 days.

Syllabus

An outline and description of a course.

Targeted Work Groups

 Task forces that are organized flexibly to respond to specific emerging needs. When the work of the task force is completed, it is disbanded.

21st Century Skills

 Are skills students need to be successful in the 21st century. They include cross-curricular skills and learning to learn skills.

Teacher Certification

Official state recognition that a person is meets state standards and is qualified to be a teacher in Washington’s public schools.

Team Teaching

An arrangement by which two or more teachers teach the same group of students.

Tenure

The legal provision that people in certain positions may be fired only for specific cause.

Thematic Units

A unit of study that uses a specific theme. Sometimes thematic units include all core subject areas.

Think, Pair, Share

A cooperative learning strategy where students first think about a topic, pair with another student to discuss their ideas, and then share with the whole class.

Title I

A federal program that provides funds to improve the academic achievement for educationally disadvantaged students who score below the 50th percentile on standardized tests.

Total Physical Response (TPR)

A language-learning approach that emphasizes the use of physical activity to increase vocabulary retention.

Tracking

A teaching practice that groups students to receive instruction according to their abilities.

Transcript

A copy of a student's permanent school record that shows courses taken, grades, graduation status, and attendance and often includes assessments such as PSAT, SAT, ACT. Also known as Student Records.

Transfer of Learning

The ability to take previously learned knowledge or skills and apply them to new situations.

Translation

The process of transcribing written information from one language into another language keeping the meaning and intent of the original information.

Truancy Petition

Paperwork submitted by a school district to juvenile court listing the number of school days missed by the student and the actions taken by the district to help the student return to school. This paperwork must be submitted before the student can be summoned to juvenile court for a hearing.

Truant Students

Youth ages 8 to 18 who do not attend school every day as required by Washington State law.

Tutor

Person who provides extra help for students with their schoolwork. A tutor may be another student or an adult.

Understanding by Design

 Is a set of ideas and practices that helps you think more purposefully and carefully about the nature of any design that has understanding as its goal. It is based on the work of Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins and focuses on the principles of “Backwards Design”.

Unit

 Curricular units aligned to standards that encompass some of the major areas of focus in a given developmental period. They include the essential questions, content and skills that will be addressed, specific lessons that will be used, and assessments that will be required.

Unpacking Standards

 Process of clearly defining the critical content and skills embedded in a standard that students need to know and be able to demonstrate to show mastery of the standard.

Unit of Study

A segment of instruction focused on a particular topic.

University

An institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects in both undergraduate and postgraduate education.

alert to injustice in society, especially racism

Year

  A school calendar year made up of terms

Year-round Schooling

A school calendar that gives students shorter breaks throughout the year, instead of a traditional three-month summer break.

Zero Tolerance

School district policy that defines specific punishment for students who break certain rules.