GLOSSARY OF TERMS from Office of Field Services, Michigan Department of Education
Accountability System: Each State sets academic standards for what every child should know and learn. Student academic achievement is measured for every child, every year. Then results of these annual tests are reported to the public.
Achievement Gap: The difference between how well low-income and minority children perform on standardized tests as compared with their peers. For many years, low-income and minority children have been falling behind their peers in terms of academic achievement.
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.
Alternative Certification: Most teachers are required to have both a college degree in education and a State certification before they can enter the classroom. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) encourages States to offer methods of qualification that allow talented individuals to teach subjects they know.
Assessment: Another word for “test.” Under NCLB, tests are aligned with academic standards. Beginning in the 2002-2003 school year, schools must administer tests in each of three grade spans: grades 3-5, grades 6-9, and grades 10-12 in all schools. Beginning in the 2005-2006 school year, tests must be administered every year in grades 3 through 8 in math and reading. Beginning in the 2007-2008 school year, science achievement must also be tested.
Charter School: Charter schools are independent public schools designed and operated by educators, parents, community leaders, educational entrepreneurs, and others. They are sponsored by designated local or State educational organizations, who monitor their quality and effectiveness but allow them to operate outside of the traditional system of public schools.
Corrective Action: When a school or school district does not make yearly progress the State will place it under a “Corrective Action Plan.” The plan will include resources to improve teaching, administration, or curriculum. If failure continues, then the State has increased authority to make any necessary, additional changes to ensure improvement.
Disaggregated Data: “Disaggregate” means to separate a whole into its parts. In education, this term means that test results are sorted into groups of students who are economically disadvantaged, from racial and ethnic minority groups, have disabilities, or have limited English fluency. This practice allows parents and teachers to see more than just the average score for their child’s school. Instead, parents and teachers can see how each student group is performing.
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA): ESEA, which was first enacted in 1965, is the principal Federal law affecting K-12 education. NCLB is the most recent reauthorization of the ESEA.
Flexibility: Refers to a new way of funding public education. NCLB gives States and school districts unprecedented authority in the use of Federal education dollars in exchange for strong accountability for results.
Homeless:According to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. 11435(2). “Sec. 725. Definitions – For purpose of this subtitle – … (2) The term ‘homeless children and youths’ – (A) means individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence (within the meaning of section 103(a)(1)); and (B) includes – (i) children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement; (ii) children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings (within the meaning of section 103(a)(2)(C)); (iii) children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and (iv) migratory children (as such term is defined in section 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965) who qualify as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in circumstances described in clauses (i) through (iii).”
Immigrant: Immigrant students are children and youth who are: age 3 through 21; not born in any State; and who have not been attending one or more schools in one or more States for more than three full academic years.
Local Education Agency (LEA): A public board of education or other public authority within a State which maintains administrative control of public elementary or secondary schools in a city, county, township, school district, or other political subdivision of a State.
Limited English Proficient (LEP): Students who are: born outside the United States or whose native language is other than English; ages 3 through 21 enrolled in elementary or secondary schools; who have difficulty speaking, understanding, reading, or writing English; who are Native Americans or are Alaska Natives; or who are migratory students whose language is not English.
National Assessment of Educational Progress: An independent benchmark, NAEP is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what American students know and can do in various subject areas. Since 1969, The National Center for Education Statistics has conducted NAEP assessments in reading, mathematics, science, writing, U.S. history, geography, civics, and the arts. ON SITE REVIEW (OSR)- a reveiw process to fulfill MDE's oversight of State and federal programs to encourage coordination and collaboration of these programs and to assisst in the identification of effective programs and practices.
Public School Choice: Students in failing schools will have the option to transfer to better public schools in their districts. The school districts will be required to provide transportation to the students. Priority will be given to low-income students.
State Educational Agency (SEA):The agency primarily responsible for the State supervision of public elementary and secondary schools.
Supplemental Educational Services (SES): Students from low-income families who are attending schools that have been identified as failing for two years will be eligible to receive outside tutoring or academic assistance. Parents can choose the appropriate services for their child from a list of approved providers. The school district will purchase the services.
Teacher Quality: To ensure that every classroom has a highly qualified teacher, States and districts around the country are using innovative programs to address immediate and long-term needs, including alternative recruitment strategies, new approaches to professional development, financial incentive programs, partnerships with local universities, and much more.
Title I: The first section of the ESEA, Title I refers to programs aimed at America’s most disadvantaged students. Title I, Part A provides assistance to improve the teaching and learning of children to meet challenging State academic content and performance standards. Title I reaches about 12.5 million students enrolled in both public and private schools.
Transferability: A new ESEA flexibility authority that allows States and local educational agencies (LEAs) to transfer a portion of the funds that they receive under certain Federal programs to other programs that most effectively address their unique needs to certain activities under Title I. SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT TALK by Brenda Crane
School Improvement Plan(SIP)- after gathering data, analyzing, we do a SIP with measurable goals, we create a PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (PD) Plan aligned with those goals. Submitted to the state or Michigan Department of Education (MDE) . AdvancEd- formerly North Central Accreditation (NCA)- provides links, resources to which we can improve school quality. The organization works hand in hand with MDE. We input our SIP through AdvancED, our Title 1 and all state required reports. Self Assessment (SA)- annually we assess our organization using this tool. SAR- self assessment done before a Quality Assurance Review (QAR) Quality Assurance Review (QAR)- done every 5 years to meet accreditation standards to receive NCA stamp and meets the state's requirements for accreditation and part of the new school report card MI-SAAS.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS from Office of Field Services, Michigan Department of Education
Accountability System: Each State sets academic standards for what every child should know and learn. Student academic achievement is measured for every child, every year. Then results of these annual tests are reported to the public.
Achievement Gap: The difference between how well low-income and minority children perform on standardized tests as compared with their peers. For many years, low-income and minority children have been falling behind their peers in terms of academic achievement.
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.
Alternative Certification: Most teachers are required to have both a college degree in education and a State certification before they can enter the classroom. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) encourages States to offer methods of qualification that allow talented individuals to teach subjects they know.
Assessment: Another word for “test.” Under NCLB, tests are aligned with academic standards. Beginning in the 2002-2003 school year, schools must administer tests in each of three grade spans: grades 3-5, grades 6-9, and grades 10-12 in all schools. Beginning in the 2005-2006 school year, tests must be administered every year in grades 3 through 8 in math and reading. Beginning in the 2007-2008 school year, science achievement must also be tested.
Charter School: Charter schools are independent public schools designed and operated by educators, parents, community leaders, educational entrepreneurs, and others. They are sponsored by designated local or State educational organizations, who monitor their quality and effectiveness but allow them to operate outside of the traditional system of public schools.
Corrective Action: When a school or school district does not make yearly progress the State will place it under a “Corrective Action Plan.” The plan will include resources to improve teaching, administration, or curriculum. If failure continues, then the State has increased authority to make any necessary, additional changes to ensure improvement.
Disaggregated Data: “Disaggregate” means to separate a whole into its parts. In education, this term means that test results are sorted into groups of students who are economically disadvantaged, from racial and ethnic minority groups, have disabilities, or have limited English fluency. This practice allows parents and teachers to see more than just the average score for their child’s school. Instead, parents and teachers can see how each student group is performing.
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA): ESEA, which was first enacted in 1965, is the principal Federal law affecting K-12 education. NCLB is the most recent reauthorization of the ESEA.
Flexibility: Refers to a new way of funding public education. NCLB gives States and school districts unprecedented authority in the use of Federal education dollars in exchange for strong accountability for results.
Homeless: According to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. 11435(2). “Sec. 725. Definitions – For purpose of this subtitle – … (2) The term ‘homeless children and youths’ – (A) means individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence (within the meaning of section 103(a)(1)); and (B) includes – (i) children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement; (ii) children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings (within the meaning of section 103(a)(2)(C)); (iii) children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and (iv) migratory children (as such term is defined in section 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965) who qualify as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in circumstances described in clauses (i) through (iii).”
Immigrant: Immigrant students are children and youth who are: age 3 through 21; not born in any State; and who have not been attending one or more schools in one or more States for more than three full academic years.
Local Education Agency (LEA): A public board of education or other public authority within a State which maintains administrative control of public elementary or secondary schools in a city, county, township, school district, or other political subdivision of a State.
Limited English Proficient (LEP): Students who are: born outside the United States or whose native language is other than English; ages 3 through 21 enrolled in elementary or secondary schools; who have difficulty speaking, understanding, reading, or writing English; who are Native Americans or are Alaska Natives; or who are migratory students whose language is not English.
National Assessment of Educational Progress: An independent benchmark, NAEP is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what American students know and can do in various subject areas. Since 1969, The National Center for Education Statistics has conducted NAEP assessments in reading, mathematics, science, writing, U.S. history, geography, civics, and the arts.
ON SITE REVIEW (OSR)- a reveiw process to fulfill MDE's oversight of State and federal programs to encourage coordination and collaboration of these programs and to assisst in the identification of effective programs and practices.
Public School Choice: Students in failing schools will have the option to transfer to better public schools in their districts. The school districts will be required to provide transportation to the students. Priority will be given to low-income students.
State Educational Agency (SEA): The agency primarily responsible for the State supervision of public elementary and secondary schools.
Supplemental Educational Services (SES): Students from low-income families who are attending schools that have been identified as failing for two years will be eligible to receive outside tutoring or academic assistance. Parents can choose the appropriate services for their child from a list of approved providers. The school district will purchase the services.
Teacher Quality: To ensure that every classroom has a highly qualified teacher, States and districts around the country are using innovative programs to address immediate and long-term needs, including alternative recruitment strategies, new approaches to professional development, financial incentive programs, partnerships with local universities, and much more.
Title I: The first section of the ESEA, Title I refers to programs aimed at America’s most disadvantaged students. Title I, Part A provides assistance to improve the teaching and learning of children to meet challenging State academic content and performance standards. Title I reaches about 12.5 million students enrolled in both public and private schools.
Transferability: A new ESEA flexibility authority that allows States and local educational agencies (LEAs) to transfer a portion of the funds that they receive under certain Federal programs to other programs that most effectively address their unique needs to certain activities under Title I.
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT TALK by Brenda Crane
School Improvement Plan(SIP)- after gathering data, analyzing, we do a SIP with measurable goals, we create a PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (PD) Plan aligned with those goals. Submitted to the state or Michigan Department of Education (MDE) .
AdvancEd- formerly North Central Accreditation (NCA)- provides links, resources to which we can improve school quality. The organization works hand in hand with MDE. We input our SIP through AdvancED, our Title 1 and all state required reports.
Self Assessment (SA)- annually we assess our organization using this tool.
SAR- self assessment done before a Quality Assurance Review (QAR)
Quality Assurance Review (QAR)- done every 5 years to meet accreditation standards to receive NCA stamp and meets the state's requirements for accreditation and part of the new school report card MI-SAAS.
INFORMATION REGARDING Categorical Programs
Title= Federal Section= State programs please follow this link:
http://www.michigan.gov//documents/mde/4_-_Description_of_Categorical_Programs_336170_7.doc