LIST OF COMMONLY USED ACRONYMS
IN BEDFORD AND IN EDUCATION
AASA = American Association of School Administrators
ACES = Academic Community for Educational Success(Alternative HS Program)
ADA = Average Daily Attendance
ADD/ADHD = Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
AED = Automated External Defibrillators
AERA = American Educational Research Association
AFT = American Federation of Teachers
AGE = Average Grade Enrollment
AIS = Academic Intervention Services
AP Program = Advanced Placement Program
APPR = Annual Personnel Performance Review
ASCD = Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
ASBO = Association of School Business Officials
AYP = Adequate Yearly Progress
BASA = Bedford Administrators and Supervisory Association
BHESA = Bedford Hills Elementary School Association
BTA = Bedford Teachers Association
BEDS = Basic Educational Data System
BOCES = Boards of Cooperative Educational Services
BVES = Bedford Village School Association
CAR = Comprehensive Assessment Report
CDOS = Career Development and Occupational Studies
CIMS = Comprehensive Instructional Management System
CEF = Community Education Foundation
CIPA = Children’s Internet Protection Act
CPS = Child Protective Services
CPSE = Committee on Pre School Education
CPRE = Center for Policy Research in Education
CRT = Criterion Referenced Test (an assessment that measures what a student
understands, knows, or can accomplish in relation to specific performance
objectives
CRESST = National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing
CSE = Committee on Special Education
CSEA = Civil Service Employees Association
CTE = Career and Technical Education
DSS = Department of Social Services
ECT =Elementary Consulting Teacher
EDL= Educational Development Leave
ELA = English Language Arts
ELL = English Language Learners
EPIC = Effective Parenting Information for Children
ERSS = Educationally Related Support Services
ECS = Education Commission of the States
ERIC = Educational Resources Information Center
ETS = Educational Testing Service
ESEA = Elementary and Secondary Education Act
ESL = English as a Second Language
FERPA = Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
FLHSA= Fox Lane High School Association
FLMSA= Fox Lane Middle School Association
FTE = Full Time Equivalent
GASB = Governmental Accounting Standards Board
GED = General Education Diploma
HILLSIDE= Alternative High School Program - Fox Lane High School
IA= Instructional Assistant
IDA = Industrial Development Agency
IDEA = Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
IEP = Individualized Education Program
LC= Learning Center
LD= Learning Disability
LEP = Limited English Proficiency
LRE = Least Restrictive Environment
LRE = Law-Related Education
LRT= Learning Resource Team - AKA child study team
MAC= Modified Academic Class
MERT= Modified Educational Resource Team
MHT =Mental Health Team
MKESA = Mount Kisco Elementary School Association
NAEP = National Assessment of Educational Progress
NAESP = National Association of Elementary School Principals
NAPT = National Association for Pupil Transportation
NASBE = National Association of State Boards of Education
NCLB = No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
NCTE = National Council of Teachers of English
NCTM = National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
NEA = National Education Association
NCTE = National Council of Teachers of English
NYCRR = New York Commissioner's Rules and Regulations
NYSAA = New York State Alternate Assessment Program
NASSP = National Association of Secondary School Principals
NCATE = National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
NCES = National Center for Education Statistics
NENNY = National Education Association/New York
NBPTS = National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
NSBA = National School Boards Association
NYCOM = New York State Conference of Mayors & Other Municipal Officials
NYLA = New York Library Association
NYSASBO = New York State Association of School Business Officials
NYSCOSS = New York State Council of School Superintendents
NYSED or SED = New York State Education Department
NYSGFOA = NY State Government Finance Officers Association
NYSMSA = New York State Middle Schools Association
NYSPTA = New York State Parent Teacher Association
NYSAP = New York State Assessment Program
NYSTCS = New York State Teacher Certification Examination Program
NYSSBA = New York State School Boards Association
NYSUT = New York State United Teachers
OT = Occupational Therapist
PT = Physical Therapist
PAC = Political Action Committee
PCEN = Pupils with Compensatory Education Needs
PEP Test = Pupil Evaluation Program Test
PET Test = Program Evaluation Test
PG&D = Professional Growth and Development Grant
PILOT = Payment in Lieu of Taxes
PINS = Persons in Need of Supervision
PLA = Project Labor Agreement
PRESNA = Pound Ridge Elementary School Association
PTA = Parent Teacher Association
PTO = Parent Teacher Organization
Project SAVE = Safe Schools Against Violence in Education
RCT = Regents Competency Test
R&D = Research and Development
RD&D = Research, Development, and Dissemination
REFIT = Reform Educational Financing Inequities Today
SAANYS = School Administrators Association of New York State
SCAA = State Communities Aid Association
SARA = State Archives & Records Administration
SAT = Standardized Assessment Test
SASS = System of Accountability of Student Success
SDC = Staff Development Center
SES = Supplemental Educational Services
STAR = Students Trying Alternative Resolutions
STAR = School Tax Relief Program
STW = School-to- Work
SURR Schools = Schools Under Registration Review
TA = Teacher Aide
UFE SKILLS = Special education classes for students with profound
developmental issues
UPK = Universal Pre-kindergarten
USDOE = U.S. Department of Education
VESID = Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities
WPESA = West Patent Elementary School Association
YRE= Year-Round Education
504 = Section 504 of Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Definitions (NCREL- North Central Regional Educational Laboratory)
Alternative assessment: An assessment in which students originate a response to a task or question. Such responses could include demonstrations, exhibits, portfolios, oral presentations, or essays.
Analytical trait scoring: A method for assigning a summary score to a product, performance, or work sample based on a prior analysis that defined the key traits, dimensions, or characteristics possessed by the class of objects being scored. The object is scored independently against each dimension, and a summary score is calculated following a set formula. The summary score may be a simple total (or average) across dimensions, a weighted total, or a more complex algorithm. An example might be the scoring of a piece of persuasive writing on such traits as attention to audience, use of grammar and punctuation, focus on the topic, and persuasiveness of argument.
At risk: A term applied to students who have not been adequately served by social service or educational systems and who are at risk of educational failure due to lack of services, negative life events, or physical or mental challenges, among others.
Authentic assessment: An assessment presenting tasks that reflect the kind of mastery demonstrated by experts. Authentic assessment of a student's ability to solve problems, for example, would assess how effectively a student solves a real problem.
Authentic task: School assignment that has a real-world application. Such tasks bear a strong resemblance to tasks performed in non-school settings (such as the home, an organization, or the workplace) and require students to apply a broad range of knowledge and skills. Often, they fill a genuine need for the students and result in a tangible end product.
Benchmark: Statement that provides a description of student knowledge expected at specific grades, ages, or developmental levels. Benchmarks often are used in conjunction with standards.
Benchmark performances: Performance examples against which other performances may be judged.
Cognitive science: A science investigating how people learn rather than what they learn. Prior knowledge and out of classroom experience help form the foundation on which teachers build effective instruction.
Cognitively guided instruction: An instructional strategy in which a teacher assesses what students already know about a subject and then builds on students' prior knowledge. Students typically are asked to suggest a way to represent a real problem posed by the teacher. Guided questions, encouragement and suggestions further encourage students to devise solutions and share the outcome with the class.
Collaborative learning or cooperative learning: An instructional approach in which students of varying abilities and interests work together in small groups to solve a problem, complete a project, or achieve a common goal.
Constructivism: Theory suggesting that students learn by constructing their own knowledge, especially through hands-on exploration. It emphasizes that the context in which an idea is presented, as well as student attitude and behavior, affects learning. Students learn by incorporating new information into what they already know.
Criterion-referenced assessment: An assessment that measures what a student understands, knows, or can accomplish in relation to specific performance objectives. It is used to identify a student's specific strengths and weaknesses in relation to skills defined as the goals of the instruction, but it does not compare students to other students.
Critical thinking: Logical thinking that draws conclusions from facts and evidence.
Curriculum (plural curricula): A plan of instruction that details what students are to know, how they are to learn it, what the teacher's role is, and the context in which learning and teaching will take place.
Data-driven decision making: A process of making decisions about curriculum and instruction based on the analysis of classroom data and standardized test data. Data-driven decision making uses data on function, quantity and quality of inputs, and how students learn to suggest educational solutions. It is based on the assumption that scientific methods used to solve complex problems in industry can effectively evaluate educational policy, programs, and methods.
Exhibition of mastery: A type of assessment in which students display their grasp of knowledge and skills using methods such as skits, video presentations, posters, hands-on activities: Activities that engage students' physical as well as mental skills to solve problems. Students devise a solution strategy, predict outcomes, activate or perform the strategy, reflect on results, and compare end results with predictions.
Heterogeneous grouping: Grouping together students of varying abilities, interests, or ages.
Higher-order questions: Questions that require thinking and reflection rather than single-solution responses.
Higher-order thinking skills: Understanding complex concepts and applying sometimes conflicting information to solve a problem, which may have more than one correct answer.
Holistic scoring: Using a scoring guide or anchor papers to assign a single overall score to a performance.
Inquiry: A process in which students investigate a problem, devise and work through a plan to solve the problem, and propose a solution to the problem.
Interdisciplinary curriculum: A curriculum that consciously applies the methodology and language from more than one discipline to examine a central theme, issue, problem, topic, or experience.
Learner-centered classroom: Classroom in which students are encouraged to choose their own learning goals and projects. This approach is based on the belief that students have a natural inclination to learn; learn better when they work on real or authentic tasks; benefit from interacting with diverse groups of people; learn best when teachers understand and value the difference in how each student learns.
"Less is more": A principle built on the idea that quality is of higher importance than quantity. It is reflected in instruction that guides students to focus on fewer topics investigated in greater depth, with teachers performing the task of prioritizing subjects as well as specific skills within those subjects.
Manipulative: Any physical object (e.g., blocks, toothpicks, coins) that can be used to represent or model a problem situation or develop a mathematical concept.
Matrix sampling: An assessment method in which no student completes the entire assessment but each completes a portion of the assessment. Portions are allotted to different, representative samples of students. Group (rather than individual) scores are obtained for an analysis of school or district performance.
Meta-cognition: The process of considering and regulating one's own learning. Activities include assessing or reviewing one's current and previous knowledge, identifying gaps in that knowledge, planning gap-filling strategies, determining the relevance of new information, and potentially revising beliefs on the subject.
Modeling: Demonstrating to the learner how to do a task, with the expectation that the learner can copy the model. Modeling often involves thinking aloud or talking about how to work through a task.
Norm-referenced assessment: An assessment designed to discover how an individual student's performance or test result compares to that of an appropriate peer group.
Open-ended question: A question that has many avenues of access and allows students to respond in a variety of ways. Such questions have more than one correct answer.
Open-ended task: A performance task in which students are required to generate a solution or response to a problem when there is no single correct answer.
Open-response task: A performance task in which students are required to generate an answer rather than select an answer from among several possible answers, but there is a single correct response.
Performance assessment: Systematic and direct observation of a student performance or examples of student performances and ranking according to pre-established performance criteria. Students are assessed on the result as well as the process engaged in a complex task or creation of a product.
Performance criteria: A description of the characteristics to be assessed for a given task. Performance criteria may be general, specific, analytical trait, or holistic. They may be expressed as a scoring rubric or scoring guide.
Performance task: An assessment exercise that is goal directed. The exercise is developed to elicit students' application of a wide range of skills and knowledge to solve a complex problem.
Portfolio assessment: An assessment process that is based on the collection of student work (such as written assignments, drafts, artwork, and presentations) that represents competencies, exemplary work, or the student's developmental progress.
Problem solving: A method of learning in which students evaluate their thinking and progress while solving problems. The process includes strategy discussion-determining solution strategies to similar problems and pinpointing additional problems within the context of their investigation.
Reliability: An indicator of score consistency over time or across multiple evaluators. Reliable assessment is one in which the same answers receive the same score regardless of who performs the scoring or how or where the scoring takes place. The same person is likely to get approximately the same score across multiple test administrations.
Rubrics: Specific criteria or guidelines used to evaluate student work.
Scaffolding: An instructional technique in which the teacher breaks a complex task into smaller tasks, models the desired learning strategy or task, provides support as students learn to do the task, and then gradually shifts responsibility to the students. In this manner, a teacher enables students to accomplish as much of a task as possible without adult assistance.
Scale: The range of scores possible for the student to achieve on a test or an assessment. Performance assessments typically use a 4- to 6-point scale, compared to a scale of 100 or more with traditional multiple-choice tests.
Scoring guide: This is a set of guidelines for rating student work. A scoring guide describes what is being assessed, provides a scoring scale, and helps the teacher or rater correctly place work on the scale.
Standardized tests: Assessments that are administered and scored in exactly the same way for all students. Traditional standardized tests are typically mass-produced and machine-scored; they are designed to measure skills and knowledge that are thought to be taught to all students in a fairly standardized way. Performance assessments also can be standardized if they are administered and scored in the same way for all students.
Standards: Statements of what students should know and be able to demonstrate. Various standards have been developed by national organizations, state departments of education, districts, and schools.
Validity: An indication that an assessment instrument consistently measures what it is designed to measure, excluding extraneous features from such measurement.