Glossary of Education Terms

A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Accommodation ‐ Techniques and materials that allow individuals with academic needs to have equal access to curriculum based on evaluation or assessment data. A change in how students access information and demonstrate learning that does not change the expectations for performance being measured.

Achievement Test ‐ Exams that are designed to determine the degree of knowledge and proficiency exhibited by an individual in a specific area or set of areas.

Active Listening – Listening attentively to what is being said and then repeating what the listener thinks the speaker said.

Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) – a statewide accountability system mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 which requires each state to ensure that all schools and districts make adequate yearly progress as defined by states and approved by the United States Department of Education.

Aim‐line – A line on a graph that represents expected student growth over time.

ASL (American Sign Language) – A type of sign language in which signs represent whole words and complete thoughts rather than single letters.

Anemia – Condition characterized by deficiency in red blood cell count.

Anticipatory Set – An activity to focus the students' attention, provide a brief practice and/or develop a readiness for the instruction that will follow.

Asperger’s Syndrome ‐ A Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) characterized by severe and sustained impairment in social interaction, development of restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. These characteristics result in clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

At Risk – Students who are not experiencing success in school and are potential dropouts. Usually low academic achievers who exhibit low self‐esteem not identified as disabled but who are vulnerable to failure and needs specialized instruction or support. Includes one who drops out of school, lives in poverty, is homeless, has no medical care, or is abused or neglected; some definitions include a student with disabilities.

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) ‐ Any of a range of behavioral disorders and resultant academic challenges of students who may exhibit the following inattentiveness: inability to pay attention to details or a tendency to make careless errors in schoolwork or other activities; difficulty with sustained attention in tasks or play activities; apparent listening problems; difficulty following instructions; problems organizing tasks and activities; avoidance or dislike of tasks that require mental effort; tendency to lose things such as: toys, notebooks, or homework; distractibility; forgetfulness in daily activities. A person can be predominantly inattentive (often referred to as ADD), predominantly hyperactive‐ impulsive, or a combination of these two.

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) ‐ see ADHD

Auditory Discrimination ‐ Ability to detect differences in sounds; may be gross ability, such as detecting the differences between the noises made by a cat and dog, or fine ability, such as detecting the differences made by the sounds of letters “m” and “n.”

Auditory Figure‐Ground ‐ Ability to attend to one sound against a background of sound, such as hearing the teacher’s voice against classroom noise.

Auditory Memory ‐ Ability to retain information which has been presented orally; may be short term memory, such as recalling information presented several seconds before; long term memory, such as recalling information presented more than a minute before; or sequential memory, such as recalling a series of information in proper order.

Auditory Perception ‐ Ability to process, organize, and interpret information through the sense of hearing.

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) – An inability to accurately process and interpret sound information. Students with APD often do not recognize subtle differences between sounds in words.

Authentic Assessment – Uses multiple forms of evaluation that reflect student learning, achievement, motivation, and attitudes on classroom activities. Examples include performance assessment, portfolios, and student self‐assessment.

Autism ‐ A complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and is the result of a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain, impacting developments in the areas of social interaction and communication skills. Both children and adults with autism typically show difficulties in verbal and non‐verbal communication, social interactions and leisure or play activities.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) ‐ Different people with autism can have very different symptoms. Health care providers think of autism as a “spectrum” disorder, a group of disorders with similar features. One person may have mild symptoms, while another may have serious symptoms. But they both have an autism spectrum disorder. Currently, the autism spectrum disorder category includes: Autistic disorder (also called “classic” autism), Asperger syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (or atypical autism). In some cases, health care providers use a broader term, pervasive developmental disorder, to describe autism.

GO BACK























































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Baseline Data – Data collected prior to the initiation of an intervention. Baseline data are used in making a comparison with data collected during and/or after the implementation of an intervention.

Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) ‐ A plan that includes positive strategies and supports that address a student’s disruptive behaviors and allows the child to be educated in the general education classroom.

Benchmark – A standard of excellence, achievement, etc., against which similar things must be measured.

GO BACK






















































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Ceiling Effects – Effects produced when gifted students are unable to demonstrate their true capacities for achievement due to use of a restricted range of test questions or problems.

Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) ‐ A disorder that occurs when the ear and the brain do not coordinate fully. A CAPD is a physical hearing impairment, but one which does not show up as a hearing loss on routine screenings or an audiogram. Instead, it affects the hearing system beyond the ear, whose job it is to separate a meaningful message from non‐essential background sound and deliver that information with good clarity to the intellectual centers of the brain (the central nervous system).

Child Find ‐ A component of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that requires states to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities, aged birth to 21, who are in need of early intervention or special education services.

Cognition – Act of thinking, knowing, or processing information.

Cognitive Disability – Significantly sub‐average general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Comprehension – Deriving meaning from hearing or reading text.

Continuous Assessment ‐ This is an element of responsive instruction in which the teacher regularly monitor student performance to determine how closely it matches the instructional goal.
Cooperative Learning – Instructional approach in which students work together to achieve group goals or rewards.

Core Curriculum – A course of study deemed critical and usually made mandatory for all students of a school or school system; core curricula must be scientific and research‐based.

Criterion‐Referenced Assessment – An assessment that measures what a student understands, knows, or can accomplish in relation to specific performance objectives; an assessment used to identify a student’s specific strengths and weaknesses in relation to skills defined as the goals of the instruction, but it does not compare students to other students.

Curriculum‐Based Assessment (CBA) ‐ A type of informal assessment that uses direct observation and recording of student performance in learning‐targeted content in order to make decisions about how to better address a student’s instructional needs.

Curriculum‐Based Measurement (CBM) – Probe or direct assessment used to identify student levels of proficiency in academics; a method of measuring and recording student progress in designated learning areas.

Cut Point – The baseline of proficiency level used to identify students for whom the core instruction is not sufficient and who need academic and/or behavioral interventions.

GO BACK













































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Data Points – Points on a graph that represents student achievement or behavior relative to a specific assessment at a specific time.

Data‐Based/Data‐Driven Decision Making – A process of collecting, analyzing, and summarizing information to answer a question and to guide development, implementation, and evaluation of an action.

Deaf – Having a hearing loss of greater than 75 to 80 decibels and an inability to understand speech through the ear; vision is the primary means of input

Developmental Delay – A delay in physical development, cognitive development, communication development, social or emotional development, or adaptive development (may include children from three through five years of age).

Diabetes – Condition characterized by inadequate utilization of insulin; results in disordered metabolism of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins; may be developmental or hereditary.

Diagnostics – Assessments that help teachers plan instruction by providing specific or in‐depth information about targeted skills and instructional needs of students. Diagnostic assessments determine what students can and/or cannot do successfully in academic and behavioral areas.

DIBELS® (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) ‐ A set of procedures and measures for assessing the acquisition of early literacy skills from kindergarten through sixth grade. They are designed to be short (one minute) fluency measures used to regularly monitor the development of early literacy and early reading skills.

Differentiated Instruction ‐ A teacher proactively plans varied approaches to what students need to learn (content), how they will learn it (process), and/or how they can express what they have learned (product) in order to increase the likelihood that each student will learn as much as he or she can as efficiently as possible.

Direct Instruction – Using a highly structured instructional approach geared to teaching the specific skills the student lacks.

Discrepancy Model – a model that uses IQ in the identification of learning disabilities. Discrepancy is indicated by the presence of a difference between aptitude and achievement, represented in the federal regulatory definition as a severe discrepancy between IQ and achievement test scores.

Disproportionally – the over‐ and under‐representation of minority students in special education.

Down Syndrome – A condition in which extra genetic material causes delays in the way a child develops, both physically and mentally.

Dyscalculia ‐ Difficulty in understanding or using mathematical symbols or functions.

Dysgraphia ‐ A severe difficulty in producing handwriting that is legible and written at an age‐appropriate speed.

Dyslexia ‐ Neurologically‐based, often familial, disorder which interferes with the acquisition and processing of language; manifested by difficulties in receptive and expressive language, including phonological processing. These difficulties can be evident in the areas of: reading, writing, spelling, handwriting, and sometimes in arithmetic.

Dysnomia ‐ A marked difficulty remembering names or recalling words needed for oral or written language.

Dyspraxia – Dyspraxia is a severe difficulty in performing drawing, writing, buttoning, and other tasks requiring fine motor skill, or in sequencing the necessary movements.

GO BACK

























































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Early Intervening Services (EIS) – The preventive components of No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Act of 2004.

Early Intervention – Provision of targeted interventions, in addition to core instruction, that are specifically designed for students who are identified as struggling learners in the early grades.

Echolalia – Meaningless repetition or imitation of speech.

Emotional Behavioral Disability (EBD) – Social, emotional or behavioral functioning that so departs from generally accepted, age appropriate ethnic or cultural norms that it adversely affects a child’s academic progress, social relationships, personal adjustment, classroom adjustment, self‐care or vocational skills.

Emotional Disability (ED) – see Emotional Behavioral Disability

Epilepsy – Condition characterized by cerebral dysfunction: effects include different types of recurring seizures.

Evidence Based Interventions (EBI) or Practices – Educational practices and instructional strategies supported by a credible body of scientific research studies.

Exceptional – Having physical, mental or behavioral performance that is substantially above or below the average.

Explicit Instruction – Systematic instructional approach that includes a set of delivery and design procedures derived from effective schools’ research merged with behavior analysis; essential components of well‐designed explicit instruction include visible delivery features of group instruction with a high level of teacher and student interactions and the less observable, instructional design principles and assumptions that make up the content and strategies to be taught.

Expressive Language ‐ Communication that is expressed through writing, speaking, and/or gestures.

Executive Function ‐ This is the ability to organize cognitive processes. This includes the ability to plan ahead, prioritize, stop and start activities, shift from one activity to another activity, and to monitor one’s own behavior.

GO BACK





















































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Facilitated Communication – Forms of non‐speech communication that augment one’s ability to communicate, such as prompting and gesturing.
Fair ‐ Providing each student what they need; different from same or equal.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) – Defines educational records and indicates who, and under what circumstances, an individual may have access to educational records.

Fidelity of Instruction/Intervention – Monitoring measures to ensure that the instruction/intervention is implemented as intended and with consistency.

Figure‐Ground Discrimination ‐ Ability to sort out important information from the surrounding environment, such as hearing a teacher’s voice while ignoring other classroom noises (air conditioners, heaters, etc) or seeing a word among others on a crowded page.

Fine Motor ‐ The use of small muscles for precision tasks such as writing, tying bows, zipping a zipper, typing, doing, puzzles.

Flexible Grouping – Groups that are formed with students moving in and out based on response to their targeted needs. Assessment data is used to identify specific skills for instruction.

Fluency – Ability to read text with accuracy, speed, and proper expression.

Formative Assessment/Evaluation – Classroom/curriculum measure of student progress; monitors progress made toward achieving learning outcomes; informs instructional decision making.

Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) – Refers to the right of all American children to receive free public education to meet their educational needs. Most directly, this refers to special education and related services that are provided at public expense to meet the needs of those students with disabilities.

Functional Assessment – A process for 1) identifying a problem/skill gap, 2) determining a purpose or strategy and 3) developing interventions for behaviors and academics.

GO BACK




















































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Graphic Organizer ‐ This includes text, diagram, or another pictorial device that summarizes and illustrates interrelationships among concepts (i.e. maps, webs, graphs, charts, frames, or clusters).
Gifted ‐ Those children identified by professionally qualified persons who by virtue of outstanding abilities are capable of high performance.

Gross Motor ‐ The use of large muscles for activities requiring strength and balance (i.e. walking, running, and jumping).

GO BACK















































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Health Disorder – see Other Health Impairment (OHI)

Health Plan – A plan established to accommodate a child’s health concerns and/or impairments without putting undue burden onto the school.

High‐Quality Instruction/Intervention – Instruction or intervention matched to student need that has been demonstrated through scientific research and practice to produce high learning rates for most students.

GO BACK













































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W


Inclusion – A service delivery model where students with identified disabilities are educated with general education age‐/grade‐level peers.

Individualized Catholic Education Plan (ICEP) ‐ A learning plan that supports the unique abilities of a student demonstrating significant need within the Catholic School.

Individualized Education Plan (IEP) ‐ A written educational prescription developed for each public school child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised in a meeting.

Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) ‐ A written document and guide for a child under age 3 who needs early intervention for disabilities.

Individualized Services Plan (ISP) – A plan provided by public school districts in lieu of an IEP, for parentally placed students in non‐public schools who will be receiving district services under proportionate‐share.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ‐ The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is the law that guarantees all children with disabilities access to a free and appropriate public education.

Informal Assessment ‐ The process of collecting information to make specific instructional decisions, using procedures largely designed by teachers and based on the current instructional situation.

Integrity of Instruction/Intervention – The assurance that scientifically‐based interventions and/or instructional practices are utilized.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ) ‐ A measure of someone’s intelligence as indicated by an intelligence test, where an average score is 100. An IQ score is the ratio of a person’s mental age to his chronological age multiplied by 100.

Intensive, Individualized Interventions (Tier 3) – Academic and/or behavioral interventions characterized by increased length, frequency, and duration of implementation for students who struggle significantly and are different from those interventions at the lower tiers; often associated with the tier that offers the most intense, individualized instruction.

Intervention ‐ A change in the manner and/or degree of the instruction designed to help a student improve classroom performance relative to a specific goal. This improvement can be documented using data systems such as progress monitoring targeted for the specific goal.

Intervention Plan – A well‐defined plan to improve academic and/or behavioral performance by providing student support and reducing academic and/or behavioral concerns.

Intervention Services – Additional assistance to improve academic or behavioral student performance (i.e. counseling, early intervention programs).

Intervention Specialists – Trained persons who provide additional help (interventions) and extra time to students. Specialists can be general education teachers, trained paraprofessionals, trained volunteers, and special education teachers including speech pathologists.

GO BACK



















































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Kinesthesis – Sensation of the body position, presence or movement resulting from stimulation of sensory nerve endings in the muscles, tendons and joints.

GO BACK












































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Language Delayed – Condition characterized by interruptions in the normal rate of language development: developmental sequence remains intact.

Language Learning Disability (LLD) – A disorder that may affect the comprehension and use of spoken or written language as well as nonverbal language, such as eye contact and tone of speech, in both adults and children.

Latchkey Child – A child who has no after‐school support or supervision.

Learning Disability (LD) – See Specific Learning Disability (SLD)

Learning Outcomes ‐ Statements that specify what learners will know or be able to do as a result of a learning activity. Usually expressed as knowledge, skills, or attitudes.

Learning Rate – A student’s growth in academic or behavioral skills over time, determined by a comparison of prior levels of performance and growth rates of peers.

Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) – An environment that is as similar as possible to the regular classroom setting and that has the fewer restrictions.

Level of Performance – The point where a student actually achieves as compared to the point of expected performance.

Literacy ‐ Literacy includes reading, writing, and the creative and analytical acts involved in producing and comprehending texts.

Local Education Agency (LEA) ‐ This is a commonly used synonym for a school district, an entity which operates local public primary and secondary schools in the United States.

GO BACK























































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Mainstream – A term that refers to the regular education classroom.

Mathematical Reasoning – The process of using information and data, logical thinking, mathematical connections, and problem‐solving strategies to determine the solution to a non‐routine problem.

Mental Age – Calculation that identifies a student’s mental ability in terms of the average chronological age of other students who have the same score on a mental abilities test.

Metacognitive Approach – Instructional approach that encourages a student to become aware of how he or she thinks and to use that awareness to self‐regulate academic achievement by monitoring his or her cognitive abilities and learning styles.

Modification – Altered grade level standards, strategies, curriculum and assessments to create a learning environment for a specific student.

Multiple Intelligences ‐ A theory, originating with Howard Gardner, which suggests that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on IQ testing, is far too limited. Instead, it proposes eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults. These intelligences are: linguistic (word smart), logical‐mathematical (number/reasoning smart), spatial (picture smart), bodily‐kinesthetic (body smart), musical (music smart), interpersonal (people smart), intrapersonal (self smart), naturalist (nature smart).

Multiple Literacies ‐ The ability to process and interpret information presented through various media.

GO BACK


























































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) ‐ The most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The act contains four basic education reform principles: stronger accountability for results, increased flexibility and local control, expanded options for parents, and an emphasis on teaching methods based on scientifically‐based research.

Nonverbal Learning Disability ‐ A nonverbal learning disability is a neurological disorder which originates in the right hemisphere of the brain. Impairment in this hemisphere causes problems with visual‐spatial, intuitive, organizational, evaluative, and holistic processing functions.

Normalization – The process of making available to individuals with disabilities patterns and conditions that are as close as possible to those of everyday life in mainstream society.

Norm‐Referenced Assessment – An assessment designed to discover how an individual student’s performance or test result compares to that of an appropriate peer group.

GO BACK

























































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Occupational Therapy (OT) – A rehabilitative service provided to individuals with physical, and/or developmental impairments. Services can include helping a student with pencil grip, physical exercises that may be used to increase strength and dexterity, or exercises to improve hand‐eye coordination.

Other Health Impairment (OHI) ‐ Limited strength, vitality or alertness, due to chronic or acute health problems. The term includes but is not limited to a heart condition, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, nephritis, asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, lead poisoning, leukemia, diabetes, or acquired injuries to the brain caused by internal occurrences or degenerative conditions, which adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Over‐Identification – refers to the over representation of students in special education programs/services that is above state and national averages; identification of more students for services through special education than the proportion of the population in the general population.

Over‐Representation – Refers to the over representation of students in specific disability‐related categories that is above state and national averages.

GO BACK




























































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Peer and Cross‐Age Tutoring – Instructional approach that uses a cooperative learning situation in which one or more peers provide instruction to other students to achieve instructional goals; includes students of different ages tutoring each other.

Peer‐Mediated Instruction – Instructional approach that uses structured interactions between two or more students that are designed by school personnel to achieve instructional goals.
Perceptual Disorder – Inability to use one or more of the senses.

Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) – a group of five disorders characterized by delays in the development of multiple basic functions including socialization and communication that have traditionally been referred to as Autism. It is not a diagnostic label. This category includes the autism spectrum disorders plus Childhood Disintegrative Disorder and Rett syndrome.

Phonemic Awareness – The ability to recognize phonemes or graphemes (sounds) in spoken words.

Phonics – The relationship between sounds and spellings in printed text using letters, letter groups, and syllables.

Physical Therapy (PT) ‐ Instructional support and treatment of physical disabilities, under a doctor’s prescription, that helps a person improve the use of bones, muscles, joints, and nerves.

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) ‐ Evidence‐based practices embedded in the school curriculum/culture/expectations that have a prevention focus; teaching, practice and demonstration of pro‐social behaviors.

Probes – Brief classroom‐based assessments.

Problem‐Solving Team – A group of education professionals who come together to consider student‐specific data, brainstorm possible strategies/interventions, and develop a plan of action to address a student‐specific need.

Processing ‐ Ability to organize and interpret the information obtained by the five senses.

Proficiency Level – The cut points for screening tools established by a district/school used to identify students who are not proficient and who may need instruction beyond the current level of the core program.

Progress Monitoring – A scientifically‐based practice that is used to measure ongoing student progress and determine the effectiveness of the instruction/intervention plan.

Proportionate Share ‐ IDEA requires public school districts to allocate a “proportionate share” of their Federal IDEA Part B funds to provide private school students the opportunity to “equitably participate” in special education programs offered by the district by means of an Individualized Services Plan (ISP) from the public school district.

Proportionate Share Plan – As a result of timely and meaningful consultation, the LEA must consult with the private school to determine how the proportionate share funds will be used to support those students with disabilities who are privately place by their parents.

GO BACK

























































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Receptive Language ‐ Language that is spoken or written by others and received by the individual (i.e. listening and reading).

Related Services – Services necessary to ensure that students with disabilities benefit from their educational experience, including transportation, speech therapy, psychological services, and physical and occupational therapy.

Remediation – Instruction intended to remedy a situation; the act of teaching a student something that he or she should have previously learned and should have been able to demonstrate; assumes appropriate strategies matched to student learning have been used previously.

Research‐Based Instruction – Instruction and interventions that are validated as effective practices through scientific studies.

Response to Intervention (RtI) – Practice of providing high‐quality instruction and interventions matched to student need, monitoring progress frequently to make changes in instruction or goals, and applying child response data to important educational decisions.

Retention ‐ The ability to retain facts and figures in memory.

Rett Syndrome ‐ A unique developmental disorder that is first recognized in infancy often misdiagnosed as autism, cerebral palsy, or non‐specific developmental delay. Causes problems in brain function that are responsible for cognitive, sensory, emotional, motor and autonomic function. These can include learning, speech, sensory sensations, mood, movement, breathing, cardiac function, and even chewing, swallowing, and digestion.

RtI Team – Name given to a team of educators who collaborate regularly about students who fail universal screenings and are receiving interventions using the RtI approach.

GO BACK

























































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Scaffolding – An instructional technique in which the teacher breaks a complex task into smaller tasks, models the desired learning strategy or task, provides support as students learn to do the task, and then gradually shifts responsibility to the students so the task can be accomplished as much as possible without adult assistance.

Seizure – Abnormal neurochemical activity in the brain; effects include altered consciousness and erratic motor patterns.

Self‐Advocacy ‐ Development of specific skills and understandings that enable a student to explain his/her specific language need to others.

Self‐Monitoring ‐ The ability to observe oneself and know when you are doing an activity or act according to a standard. For example, knowing if you do or do not understand what you are reading; or whether your voice tone is appropriate for the circumstances or too loud or too soft.

Special Education (SPED) ‐ Services offered to children who possess one or more of the following disabilities: specific learning disabilities, speech or language impairments, intellectual disability, emotional disturbance, multiple disabilities, hearing impairments, orthopedic impairments, visual impairments, autism, combined deafness and blindness, traumatic brain injury, and other health impairments.

Specific Learning Disability (SLD) ‐ The official term used in federal legislation to refer to difficulty in certain areas of learning, rather than in all areas of learning. It is synonymous with the term learning disabilities. It encompasses disorders of the basic psychological processes that affect the way a student learns. Many students with learning disabilities have average or above average intelligence. Learning disabilities may cause difficulties in listening, thinking, talking, reading, writing, spelling, or arithmetic. Excluded are learning difficulties caused by visual, hearing, or motor impairments, intellectual disabilities, emotional disturbances, or environmental disadvantage.

Speech and Language Impairment ‐ A communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) ‐ An expert who can help children and adolescents who have language disorders to understand and give directions, ask and answer questions, convey ideas, and improve the language skills that lead to better academic performance.

Staffing ‐ A meeting of educational specialists, teachers, counselors, parents, and the student to review the educational evaluation and prepare an Individualized Education Plan for the child.
Standard Protocol Intervention – Use of the same empirically validated intervention for all students with similar academic or behavioral needs; facilitates quality control.

Standardized Test ‐ Tests developed, administered, and scored using established procedures and guidelines that ensure all students are tested under the same conditions, given equal opportunity to determine the correct answers, and that all scores are established and interpreted using appropriate criteria. Two types of standardized tests are: norm‐referenced tests (used to compare student performance to that of other students) and criterion‐referenced tests (used to measure student performance against a defined set of learning requirements or expectations).

State Education Agency (SEA) ‐ The state department of education which is a formal governmental label for the state‐level government agencies within each U.S. state responsible for providing information, resources, and technical assistance on educational matters to schools and residents.

Strategic Interventions Specific to Need – Interventions chosen in relation to student data and from among those that have been documented through education research to be effective with like students under like circumstances.

Strategy – A procedure used for strengthening the process of learning.

Student Profile Packet – An ongoing tool to assist the teacher in compiling critical data to document student areas of strengths and weakness.

Summative Assessment/Evaluation – Comprehensive in nature, provides accountability, and is used to check the level of learning at the end of a unit of study.

Supplemental Interventions (Tier‐2) – Interventions that relate directly to an area need; are different from and are supplementary to universal interventions.

Supports ‐ Considered a subset of accommodations ‐ usually technological in nature (i.e. high tech support such as, communications devices, computers, IPods, and various software programs, or low tech supports such as adaptive equipment), that allow the student to either access the core curriculum and/or effectively and efficiently communicate their knowledge and learning.

Syntax ‐ The study of the rules and patterns for the formation of grammatical sentences and phrases in a language.

Systematic Data Collection – Planning a time frame for and following through with appropriate assessments to set baselines and monitor student progress.

Systematic Reform – Changes that occur in all aspects and levels of the educational process and that impacts all stakeholders within the process with implications for all components, including curriculum, assessment, professional development, instruction and compensation.

GO BACK




































































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Tic Disorders ‐ Characterized by the persistent presence of tics, which are abrupt, repetitive involuntary movements and sounds that have been described as caricatures of normal physical acts. The best known of these disorders is Tourette's syndrome.

Tiered Model – Common model of three or more tiers that delineate levels of instructional interventions based on student skill needs.

Timely and Meaningful Consultation (TMC) ‐ Local school districts must consult with the private schools within their district and with representatives of parents of students with disabilities who attend those schools regarding: 1) the child find process and how parties will be informed of that process; 2) the amount of federal funds available for the special education and related services for parentally placed private school children with disabilities, and how that amount was determined; 3) the process to ensure that parentally‐placed private school children with disabilities can meaningfully participate in special education and related services; 4) the provision of services (how, where, by whom) and how such services will be provided it funds are insufficient to serve all children; and, 5) how, if the local school district disagrees with the views of the private school officials on the provision of services or the type of services, the local school district will provide a written explanation to the private school of the rationale for the decision made.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) ‐ An acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem‐solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; physical functions; information processing; and speech. The term does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative or to brain injuries induced by birth trauma.

Trend‐line – Line on a graph that connects data points; compare against aim‐line to determine responsiveness to intervention.

GO BACK




























































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) – Process of designing instruction that is accessible by all students.

Universal Interventions (Tier‐1) – Foundational interventions that are preventive and proactive in keeping students from becoming at risk of failing by helping them meet academic or behavioral expectations; implementation is school‐wide or by whole classroom.

Universal Screening – Informal or formal assessments administered to all students to determine who may be identified as “at risk” of falling below state or grade level standards.

GO BACK















































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Validated Intervention – Intervention supported by education research to be effective with identified needs of sets of students.

Validity – An indication that an assessment instruction consistently measures what it is designed to measure, excluding extraneous features from such assessment.

Visual Association ‐ Ability to relate concepts that are presented visually, through pictures or written words. For example, given a picture of a dog, house, flower and bone, the child is able to indicate that the dog and bone go together.

Visual Closure ‐ Ability to identify an item from an outline or a partially completed picture.

Visual Discrimination ‐ Ability to detect similarities and/or differences in materials which are presented visually, such as the ability to discriminate h from n, o from c, b from d, etc.

Visual Figure‐Ground ‐ Ability to focus on the foreground of material presented visually, rather than the background. Those who have difficulty with this may find it hard to keep their place while copying or reading, may find a crowded page of print or illustrations confusing.

Visual Impairment ‐ An impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance (includes both partial sight and blindness.

Visual Memory ‐ Ability to retain information which is presented visually: may be short term memory; long term memory; or sequential memory, such as recalling a series of information in proper order.

Visual Motor ‐ Ability to translate information received visually into a motor response. Difficulties are often characterized by poor handwriting, coloring, and using a standard keyboard.

Visual Perception ‐ Ability to correctly interpret what is seen. For example, a child sees a triangle and identifies it as a triangle.

GO BACK























































A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Working Memory ‐ The ability to store and manage information in one’s mind for a short period of time. In one test of working memory a person listens to random numbers and then repeats them.
Written Language ‐ The ability to write successfully encompasses all facets of written expression, e.g., handwriting, capitalization, punctuation, spelling, format, or the ability to express one’s thoughts in writing assignments.

GO BACK






























































Acknowledgments:
Archdiocese of Chicago‐Office of Schools, Resource Handbook for Teaching Students with Differing Learning Needs, 2009.
Boyle, Michael J, Ph.D., Response to Intervention: A Blueprint for Catholic Schools, NCEA, 2010.
Dudek, Antoinette, OSF, Ed.D. Is There Room For Me? NCEA. 1998.
MentoringMinds.com, Response to Intervention Implementation Guide: Team Member Notebook. 2008.
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, “Frequently Used Education Acronyms/Terms in Special Education, http://dpi.wi.gov/sped/acronym.html, October 2010.