Teachers speak their own language. Just like any profession, teachers have their jargon that accompanies any discussion relating to education. I am assuming that there is variance from district to district on acronyms and names, but the essentials should be the same. Here are some of the most common things that you might come across.
IEP - Individualized Education Plan...this is a document that attests to any special education your child qualifies for and therefore is ENTITLED to. I am going to have a separate post on this.
PEP - Personalized Education Plan...this might be specific to North Carolina, but I would imagine that all districts have this in place in one form or another. Basically, this document states some of the ways your child's teacher is going to intervene and work to bring your child back up to grade level. I only created these for students who were below grade level in Reading or Math, or both.
Section 504- This is a document for student who need modifications in the school setting that don't necessarily have to do with academics. For example, if a student has severe and diagnosed anxiety, he could have a 504 Plan for separate test setting during testing times.
Objective - These are state determined learning outcomes for each grade level in all of the subjects taught in school. The biggies are Reading, Math, Social Studies and Science. However, there are also Technology, Media, Music, PE, and Art objectives for most states. These are the elementary level core subjects. Middle grades and high school also have their own objectives for each class.
On, below, or above grade level - These terms describe where your child falls in the continuum of mastery of grade level objectives. On grade level means that your child is meeting expectations in that subject area for the grade level work expected. Below grade level indicates that your child has not reached a satisfactory level of mastery for the objective. And above grade level indicates that your child consistently produces work that reaches beyond the scope of the objective for the grade level.
Speaking of curriculum, you are able to look at your child's grade level curriculum to inform yourself what they should be learning this year. Did you know that? The curriculum is the standard against which your child will be graded for grade level competency. Teachers are required to teach the objectives from the curriculum mandated by the state. Additionally, if your child is in a tested grade (3rd and above in NC, 2nd and above in CA), the state curriculum is the foundation of the test. As a parent, I would encourage you to familiarize yourself with the curriculum for each of your students. It will enable you to know where they are going this year. It will also allow you to better help your child with homework or identify any weaknesses present.
North Carolina curriculum can be found here. It is commonly known as the Standard Course of Study. California curriculum can be found here. I am not nearly as familiar with the California curriculum.
If you do learn the curriculum, use it wisely. Remember that your child will not learn all of the content in the first quarter of the school year. The curriculum will build from simple concept to more complex as the year progresses. Please use it as a took t partner with your child's teacher rather than as a "gotcha". I have had parents walk into conferences with me, curriculum in hand asking why we aren't teaching this or that. I had to gently explain that those particular objectives are taught during the final part of the 3rd quarter of the year.
Tomorrow, I will discuss testing and assessments! Fun, fun! Won't you join me?
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