education today: Vocabulary

ABILITY GROUPING : grouping students by need, interest or ability for a particular activity.

ACCOMMODATIONS: Changes made to the classroom, the teaching process or the learning activities to meet requirements of special needs students; such changes may include timing/scheduling, setting, presentation method, response requirements, end products, or the environment.

A.P. (ADVANCED PLACEMENT) : a program of college-level courses offered in high school.

DIVERSITY : Differences associated with gender, social/economic status, race, culture, abilities and life styles

DYSLEXIA : severe difficulty in learning to read, particularly as it relates to decoding.

DYSGRAPHIA : severe difficulty learning to write, including handwriting.

DYSCALCLIA : severe difficulty learning mathematical concepts and computation.

ENRICHMENT : learning activities not found in the core curriculum that are more in-depth and are used to supplement the student’s experience.

G.P.A. : Grade point average

GIFTED AND TALENTED : Those children who give evidence of high performance capability in areas such as general intellect, creativity, visual and performing arts, leadership, or specific academic aptitude, and who require services or activities beyond those ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop such capabilities(as defined by Congress).

HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS : Teachers who under the No Child Left Behind Act meet the criteria established for teachers, namely to hold a bachelors degree, to be fully certified, and to prove that they know the subject that they teach.

I.E.P. (INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATIONAL PLAN) : a unique plan, usually in writing and signed by the teacher and parent, designed specifically for an individual student’s needs.

I.H.E. : Institution of higher education, college or university

L.E.A. : Local Education Agency, school district

LEARNING STYLES : the mode of learning preferred by a student. Some learners are visual, others auditory, some relate in a concrete-sequential manner, others in an abstract-random way.

MAINSTREAMING : The educational practice first used in the 1970s of having children with disabilities placed in regular classrooms as opposed to special education classrooms to allow them to have equal access to educational opportunities and normal contact with their peers whenever possible.

MENTOR : a person with expertise who relates in a one-to-one relationship with a student or adult to share knowledge or offer support.

N-GEN/LAPPERS : A generation of youth who have lapped adults in their knowledge of technology and who are now referred to as the N Generation, or Net Generation.

N.T.E. : National Teachers Examination, including general and subject area knowledge

NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFICATION : a credential attesting that a teacher has been judged by peers as one who is accomplished; makes sound professional judgments about student learning; and acts effectively on those judgments. National Board Certified Teachers demonstrate a high level of knowledge, skills, dispositions and commitments reflected in the Board’s core propositions.

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT : Federal law passed by Congress in 2001 and signed into law by President Bush on January 8, 2002. This law attempts to achieve the goal of a quality education for all children by the 2013-2014 school years by reforming our schools and providing teachers and school districts with the needed resources to achieve the goal. NCLBA

PORTFOLIO : A collection of work demonstrating competency

PRAXIS : A series of examinations assessing competency in academic background, subject matter knowledge and understanding/application of principles of learning and teaching.

RUBRIC : A measurement of student performance, criteria for success.

SELF CONTAINED CLASSROOM : a classroom where students of varying ability remain in one classroom and are taught all disciplines by the same teacher.

SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS : students with disabilities that require some kind of accommodation during the school day. Their disabilities may be physical, learning or emotional or a combination of these.

STANDARDIZED TEST : a specially constructed test, using the performance of other individuals as the standard by which the student is compared.

TITLE I : A federal law providing resources to schools needing extra help to strengthen programs in basic and core academics; typically aimed at America’s most disadvantaged children and high-poverty schools. Funds from this program reach about 12.5 million students in both public and private schools

TITLE VII : Federal funds used to support bi-lingual programs aiming to improve English proficiency in non-native speakers of English.

TITLE IX : A federal law barring gender bias in any school receiving federal funds.

UNDERACHIEVEMENT : A discrepancy between a child’s school performance and his actual ability.

504 PLAN : A legal document designed to outline a program of instructional services to assist students with special needs who are in a regular education setting.