Definitions of Educational Terms

In the fall of 2009, I took an Education Class at College of DuPage. The followings are definitions of some educational terms, which I had chance to learn in that class. In order to restudy by myself and sharing with my readers:

1. Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP): Under the No Child Left Behind Act, each state establishes annual criteria to determine school district and school achievement. Schools that fail to meet the AYP criteria (often determined by standardized tests) are held accountable and may be closed.

2. Allocated time: The amount of time a school or an individual teacher schedules for a subject.

3. Authentic Assessment: A type of evaluation that represents actual performance, encourages students to reflect on their own work, and is integrated into the student’s whole learning process. Such tests usually require that students synthesize knowledge from different areas and use that knowledge actively.

4. Bilingual education: Educational programs in which students of limited or no English-speaking ability attend classes taught in English, as well as in their native language. There is great variability in these programs in terms of goals, instructional opportunity, and balance between English and a student’s native language.

5. Block scheduling: Using longer “blocks” of time to schedule classes results in fewer but longer periods given to each subject. It is designed to promote greater in-depth study.

6. Bloom’s Taxonomy: A classification system in which each lower level is subsumed in the next higher level. The bloom’s taxonomy describes simple to more complex mental processes, and usually is used to classify educational objectives or classroom questions.

7. Charter school: A group of teachers, parents, and even businesses may petition a local school board, or state government, to form a charter school which is exempt from many state and local regulations. Designed to promote creative new schools, the charter represents legal permission to try new approaches to educate students. The first charter legislation was passed in Minnesota in 1991.

8. Collective bargaining: A negotiating procedure between employer and employees for resolving disagreements on salaries, work schedules, and other conditions of employment. In collective bargaining, all teachers in a school system bargain as one group through chosen representatives.

9. Content standards: The knowledge, skills, and dispositions that students should master in each subject. These standards are often linked to broader themes and sometimes to testing programs.

10. Cultural literacy: Knowledge of the people, places, events, and concepts central to the standard literate culture.

11. Culturally responsive teaching: Recognizes that students learn in different ways, and that effective teachers recognize and respond to these differences. This approach focuses on the learning strengths of students, as well as mediates the frequent mismatch between home and school cultures.

12. Culture: A set of learned beliefs, values, and behaviors; a way of life shared by members of a society.

13. Educational vouchers: Flat grants or payments representing the cost of educating a student at a school. Awarded to the parent or child to enable free choice of a school-public or private – the voucher payment is made to the school that accepts the child.

14. Engaged time: The part of time that a teacher schedules for a subject in which the students are actively involved with academic subject matter. Listening to a lecture, participating in a class discussion, and working on math problems all constitute engaged time.

15. English language learners (ELL): (Also referred to as limited English proficiency or LEP.) Students whose native language is not English and are learning to speak and write English.

16. Ethnicity: Refers to shared common cultural traits such as language, religion, and dress. A Latino or Hispanic, for example, belongs to an ethnic group, but might belong to the Black, Caucasia, or Asian race.

17. Expectation theory: First made popular by Rosenthal and Jacobson, this theory holds that a student’s academic performance can be improved if a teacher’s attitudes and beliefs about that student’s academic potential are modified.

18. Exceptional learners: Students who require special education and related services in order to realize their full potential. Categories of exceptionality include retarded, gifted, learning disabled, emotionally disturbed, and physically disabled.

19. Generalizations: Broad statements about a group that offer information, clues, and insights that can help a teacher plan more effectively. Generalizations are a good starting point, but as the teacher learns more about the students, individual differences become more educationally significant.

20. Home schooling: A growing trend (but a longtime practice of parents educating their children at home, for religious or philosophical reasons.

21. Immersion: This bilingual education model teaches students with limited English by using a “sheltered” or simplified English vocabulary, but teaching in English and not in the other language.