Glossary
The education field is so full of acronyms and specialized words that it can seem like a confusing alphabet soup! Find out what AYP, IEP, 504, and many other abbreviations and words mean in this glossary of frequently used terms.
- Academic achievement standards
- Academic achievement standards refer to the expected performance of students on measures of academic achievement; for instance, "all students will score at least 76% correct on the district-developed performance-based assessment." Also known as performance standards. See also academic content standards.
- Academic content standards
- Academic content standards are developed by state departments of education to demonstrate what they expect all students to know and be able to do in the core content areas. According to NCLB, ELL students "will meet the same challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards as all children are expected to meet." See also academic achievement standards.
- Academic English
- The English language ability required for academic achievement in context-reduced situations, such as classroom lectures and textbook reading assignments. This is sometimes referred to as Cognitive/Academic Language Proficiency (CALP).
- Accommodation (for English Language Learners)
- Adapting language (spoken or written) to make it more understandable to second language learners. In assessment, accommodations may be made to the presentation, response method, setting, or timing/scheduling of the assessment (Baker, 2000; Rivera & Stansfield, 2000).
- Accommodation (For students with disabilities)
- Techniques and materials that allow individuals with LD to complete school or work tasks with greater ease and effectiveness. Examples include spellcheckers, tape recorders, and expanded time for completing assignments.
For more information, go to Accommodations & Modifications. - accuracy
- The ability to recognize words correctly.
- Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)
- An individual state's measure of yearly progress toward achieving state academic standards. "Adequate Yearly Progress" is the minimum level of improvement that states, school districts and schools must achieve each year.
- Affective filter
- The affective filter is a metaphor that describes a learner's attitudes that affect the relative success of second language acquisition. Negative feelings such as lack of motivation, lack of self-confidence and learning anxiety act as filters that hinder and obstruct language learning. This term is associated with linguist Stephen Krashen's Monitor Model of second language learning.
- affix
- Part of word that is "fixed to" either the beginnings of words (prefixes) or the endings of words (suffixes). The word disrespectful has two affixes, a prefix (dis-) and a suffix (-ful).
- age equivalent score
- In a norm-referenced assessment, individual student's scores are reported relative to those of the norming population. This can be done in a variety of ways, but one way is to report the average age of people who received the same score as the individual child. Thus, an individual child's score is described as being the same as students that are younger, the same age, or older than that student (e.g. a 9 year old student my receive the same score that an average 13 year old student does, suggesting that this student is quite advanced).
- alphabetic principle
- The basic idea that written language is a code in which letters represent the sounds in spoken words.
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- A federal law that gives civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. It guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, state and local government services, and telecommunications.
For more information, go to The Americans with Disabilities Act. - Analogy-based phonics
- In this approach, students are taught to use parts of words they have already learned to read and decode words they don't know. They apply this strategy when the words share similar parts in their spellings, for example, reading screen by analogy to green. Students may be taught a large set of key words for use in reading new words.
- Analytic phonics
- In this approach, students learn to analyze letter-sound relationships in previously learned words. They do not pronounce sounds in isolation.
- Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives (AMAO)
- Within Title III of NCLB, each state is required to determine Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives (AMAOs). AMAOs indicate how much English language proficiency (reading, writing, speaking, listening, and comprehension) children served with Title III funds are expected to gain each year. See also AYP, for similar content area requirements
The AMAO requirements include reporting on these three things:- Annual increases in the number or percentage of children making progress in learning English.
- Annual increases in number or percentage of children attaining English proficiency.
- ELL children making AYP.
- aphasia
- see Developmental Aphasia
- Assessment
- Assessment is a broad term used to describe the gathering of information about student performance in a particular area. See also formative assessment and summative assessment.
- assistive technology
- Equipment that enhances the ability of students and employees to be more efficient and successful. For more information, go to "LD Topics: Technology.
- Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Any of a range of behavioral disorders in children characterized by symptoms that include poor concentration, an inability to focus on tasks, difficulty in paying attention, and impulsivity. A person can be predominantly inattentive (often referred to as ADD), predominantly hyperactive-impulsive, or a combination of these two.
For more information, go to ADHD Basics. - 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 (e.g., 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 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.
For more information, go to Auditory Processing Disorder in Children. - Authentic assessment
- Authentic assessment uses multiple forms of evaluation that reflect student learning, achievement, motivation, and attitudes on classroom activities. Examples of authentic assessment include performance assessment, portfolios, and student self-assessment.
- automaticity
- Automaticity is a general term that refers to any skilled and complex behavior that can be performed rather easily with little attention, effort, or conscious awareness. These skills become automatic after extended periods of training. With practice and good instruction, students become automatic at word recognition, that is, retrieving words from memory, and are able to focus attention on constructing meaning from the text, rather than decoding.
These terms and definitions were collected from the following sources: Dr. Jean Lokerson, ERIC Digest; Southwest Educational Laboratory (SEDL); Dr. Linda Wilmshurst and Dr. Alan Brue, A Parent's Guide to Special Education, American Management Association, 2005; The Partnership for Reading; Learning Disabilities Council; Dr. Don Deshler, University of Kansas.
*Source: Common Core State Standards. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010.