Issue Spotlights
Education Glossary
Education Glossary
Accountability: the idea that individuals or institutions (ie: schools) should be held responsible for student achievement by means of rewards for success and penalties for those that do not meet acceptable standards.
Achievement test: a tool used to measure a students level of knowledge or skills.
Adoption: the selected curriculum that a school decides to implement.
Annual Measurable Objective (AMO): one of the benchmarks used to demonstrate the success of No Child Left Behind. The AMO is the annual target of the percentage of students whose test scores should meet or exceed standards for Mathematics and English/Language arts.
Assessment: standardized tests created by teachers, or textbook companies that are used to measure a student’s level of proficiency.
Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE): BESE serves as the administrative policy-making body for Louisiana’s elementary and secondary public and non-public schools
Bond measure: a type of loan used by school districts to fund construction and repair projects. The principal and interest on the loan are paid by local property owners by means of an increase in property taxes.
Charter schools: public schools that are established by organizations or individuals and are funded by both public and private funds. They are given a greater degree of autonomy in regards to curriculum and funding allocations in exchange for a greater degree of accountability: Charter schools can be seized by state or local governments if they do not meet acceptable levels of student achievement.
Core academics: subjects that are required to be taught in middle schools and high schools. These topics include English, History, and Science, and Math.
Curriculum: the curriculum needs to be approved by the local school board and refers to the subject matter offered by a school or district.
Free/reduced-price meals: a federal program that offers students from low-income families either reduced or free school meals.
General fund: a term used by state and school districts to distinguish general funds from funds that are set aside for a specific use, for instance, Textbook funds.
Inclusion: inclusion refers to the placement of students with disabilities into regular classrooms.
Magnet school: a type of school that normally has high academic standards and primarily focuses on one discipline, for instance, science, technology, or math.
No Child Left Behind( NCLB): The No Child Left Behind Act is meant to improve levels of performance in primary and secondary schools. The Act requires each state to create guidelines and standards to assess student performance if they are to receive federal funding for schools. The Act also requires annual standardized tests to be administered to students as well as training for teachers to become highly qualified.
Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB): The OPSB governs New Orleans Public Schools: New Orleans Public Schools, a school district that serves all of New Orleans, used to be the largest school district in New Orleans. After the Hurricane, 102 of the 128 New Orleans Public Schools were taken over by the Recovery School District.
Parent Teacher Association (PTA): a national non-profit organization that operates local school chapters. The PTA is composed of parents, teachers, and other interested people and functions to support the interests of a particular school. Normally, PTA activities include fundraising, and increasing parental and community involvement with the school.
Proficiency: ability to perform at grade level.
Recovery School District (RSD): The Recovery School District was established in 2003 by the Louisiana Department of Education and is meant to serve as a temporary department until a unified New Orleans school district is designed and developed: Its funtion is to take over failing schools and improve their performance. In 2005, legislators transferred 102 public schools, originally governed by the Orleans Parish School Board, into the control of the Recovery School District. Under this legislation, these schools are to remain under the governance of the RSD for a minimum period of five years, at which time they can be returned to local control if student performance meets the accepted standards.
Socioeconomically disadvantaged: students who qualify for free/reduced-price school meals and/or whose parents do not have a high school diploma.
Special education: special instruction classes that serve students with disabilities.
*Standardized test:*an administered test that is the same for all who take it, although adjustments may be made for students with disabilities.
Tenure: a process by which a teacher can gain guaranteed employment if they successfully complete a two year probationary period.
School Wise Press was used as a source
