- ABCs accountability model
- The ABCs Accountability Model is North Carolina's school improvement plan to "reorganize public schools around three goals: strong Accountability, an emphasis on the Basics and high educational standards, and providing schools and school districts with as much local Control over their work as possible" (NCDPI).
- ability grouping
- The instructional practice of grouping students according to their academic skills. School-based (or between class) grouping, also known as tracking creates entire classrooms with students of similar ability; within-class grouping forms groups of students of similar ability within an individual classroom.
- abstinence-only education
- Curriculum that teaches abstention from sexual activity until marriage.
- accommodation
- A change in how information is presented, or an alteration in how a test is administered (such as orally or in a different format) or test-taker is permitted to respond. Accommodations are made to take into account various learning and testing differences among students in order to provide equal opportunity to demonstrate knowledge or understanding.
- accountability
- Policies and practices that hold schools and teachers responsible for student performance. Accountability measures may serve a variety of functions for state, district and school stakeholders, including holding teachers and students accountable for performance on standardized tests, rewarding or sanctioning schools based on student performance, comparing and publicizing performance by schools in a district or across a state, and/or allocating funds based on performance.
- acculturation
- See assimilation.
- achievement gap
- Gaps in standardized achievement measures between students from different racial and ethnic groups and between students from poor and non-poor families. Research shows a significant gap between the performances of African-American, Latino/a, Native American, and low-income students and their white, Asian, and economically advantaged peers.
- active reading
- A manner of reading in which the reader is mentally engaged with a text and reads for comprehension and criticism as well as reads selectively and with a purpose.
- advance organizer
- Content that is presented prior to learning and that can be used by students to organize and clarify new incoming information. The purpose is to build a bridge from prior knowledge to the new information that encourages the understanding, learning, and retention of the new concept.
- Advanced Placement
- Program under which high school students take advanced coursework and receive college credit for acceptable scores on nationally administered tests.
- aesthetic education
- Education that recognizes the interconnectedness of body, mind, emotions, and spirit. Enabling students to express perceptions, feelings and ideas through reflective shaping of media including paint, clay, music, spoken or written words, and bodies in movement.
- aesthetics education
- Teaching students to critically view art so as to become more reflective and discriminating in their opinions of various art forms.
- alternative assessment
- Assessment that measures student learning in forms other than traditional pencil-and-paper, short-answer tests.
- alternative teacher certification
- Certification of teachers by means other than traditional four-year college and university education degree programs. Candidates for alternative certification hold a degree in the subject matter they will teach and meet abbreviated pedagogical coursework requirements, often during the first two years of teaching.
- Americans with Disabilities Act
- Passed by the U.S. Congress in 1990, the ADA guarantees equal employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. The ADA also provides for reasonable accommodations to increase the numbers of students with disabilities in primary, secondary, and postsecondary education.
- anticipation guide
- A list of true/false statements designed to challenge preconceptions and focus student attention during an assigned reading. A pre-reading strategy useful in any content area.
- Asperger's syndrome
- Disorder similar to but distinct from autism, marked by abnormal social interaction but comparatively high language skills.
- assessment
- The process or means of evaluating a student’s knowledge or skills.
- assimilation
- The process whereby minority groups adapt to and accept the linguistic, cultural, and behavioral norms of the dominant culture in a society.
- at-risk
- A term used to describe students at risk of educational failure as a result of challenges ranging from a lack of adequate service from school or social service organizations to negative life events such as socioeconomic or physical/mental challenges.
- attention deficit disorder
- A family of neurobiological disorders characterized by hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inability to sustain attention and concentration.
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
- See attention deficit disorder.
- authentic assessment
- Assessment that seeks to evaluate students' abilities in "real-world" contexts, including the application and demonstration of skills and knowledge to authentic tasks or projects likely to be encountered in adult life.
- autism
- Disorder characterized by abnormal social interaction and communication.
- automaticity
- A skill performed spontaneously with little or no conscious attention to its execution. Automaticity of word recognition frees attention for comprehension.
K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education
