Accommodation

Practices and procedures in the areas of presentation, response, setting, and timing/scheduling that provide equitable access during instruction and assessments for students with disabilities without invalidating the construct.  Accommodations do not reduce learning expectations.

Acuity

A formative/predictive online assessment in the areas of math, algebra, science and literacy conducted three times per year and aligned with state standards and the CSAP.

Aimline

Line on a graph that represents expected student growth over time.

A data management system that facilitates the organization of student, classroom, school, and district level benchmark and progress monitoring data.  The system automatically graphs data against student, classroom, school, district or national norms or targets.

AYP

Adequate Yearly Progress:  A statewide accountability system mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 which requires

Assessment

The process of measuring and documenting what students have learned.

Benchmark Tests/Universal Screening

Short assessments (2-3 minutes) given at the beginning, middle, and end of year to establish baseline achievement data and progress.
 

Curriculum-Based Measurement

CBM is s et of assessment methods for keeping track of how well students are learning basic skills. Using CBM, teachers assess students’ academic performance on a regular basis (e.g. weekly or monthly) with very brief, simple tests.  CBM measures are often used as progress monitoring tools.  DIBELS and AIMSweb measures are examples of CBM.

Data-Based Decision Making

The process of planning for student success (academic and behavioral) through the use of ongoing progress monitoring and analysis of data.

Data points

Points on a graph that represent student achievement or behavior relative to a specific assessment at a specific time.

The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) are a set of standardized, individually administered measures of early literacy development.  They are designed to be short (one minute) fluency measures used for benchmarking and progress monitoring purposes in order to regularly monitor the development of pre-reading and early reading skills.

Differentiated Instruction

Process of designing lesson plans that meet the needs of the range of learners; such planning includes learning objectives, grouping practices, teaching methods, a varied assignments, and varied materials chosen based on student skill levels, interest levels, and learning preferences.  Differentiated instruction focuses on instructional strategies, instructional groupings, and an array of materials.

Duration

The length of time over which a child receives an intervention (e.g., 15 weeks).

Fidelity

Implementing a program, system or intervention exactly as designed so that it is aligned with research and ensures the largest possible positive outcome.

Formative assessment is also known as “developmental evaluation.”  It involved monitoring and adjusting instruction.  Formative assessments require frequent data collection throughout instruction that will lead to adjustments in the instruction. 

Frequency

The number of times a child receives an intervention in a given timeframe (e.g., daily, twice weekly).

Frequency

Functional (Targeted) Assessment

The number of times a child receives an intervention in a given timeframe (e.g., daily, twice weekly).

Behaviors:  Process to identify the problem, determine the function or purpose of the behavior, and to develop interventions to teach acceptable alternatives to the behavior.
Academics:  Process to identify the skill gap, strategies that have and have not been effective, and to develop interventions to teach the necessary skill(s).

Gap Analysis

Gap Analysis is a tool for measuring the difference between the student’s current level of performance and benchmark expectations.

Intensity

The length of time during which a child receives an intervention (e.g., 30 minutes).

Intensive Level (tier)

Focused curriculum and instructional strategies designed to meet the specific needs of the targeted group and/or individual.  May be considered as a replacement of universal/core curriculum.

Interventions

Instructional strategies and curricular components used to enhance student learning.  Interventions include the explicit instruction that students need to progress.

Modification

Modifications allow student access and participation while they change the standard or expectations for the area identified.  When modifications are made, students with disabilities are not expected to master the same academic content as others in the classroom.

Multi-tiered Intervention Model

A continuum of instruction, where each tier provides increasingly intense interventions and levels of support in addition to previously provided instruction (universal, targeted, intensive).

Observational Recording Procedures

• Continuous—record all behavior during a prescribed period of time.
• Frequency recording—count the number of times a behavior occurs.
• Duration recording—record the amount of time the student engages in the behavior.
• Interval recording—record the number of times a behavior occurs during a prescribed period of time.
• Time sampling—observe the behavior at equal interval or intermittent time periods and record the occurrence or non-occurrence of the behavior

PDCA

Plan – Do – Check– Adjust
The acronym for the Thompson School District’s continuous quality improvement process.
 

Positive Behavior Supports (PBS)

Positive Behavior Supports is an application of a behaviorally-based systems approach to enhance the capacity of schools, families and communities to design effective environments that improve the link between research-validated practices and the environments in which teaching and learning occurs.  Attention is focused on creating and sustaining primary (school-wide), secondary (classroom), and tertiary (individual) systems of support that improve lifestyle results (personal, health, social, family, recreation) for all children and youth by making problem behavior less effective, efficient, and relevant and desired behavior more functional.

Problem Solving Team

A collaborative team which includes parents, teachers and specialists that meets to evaluate student data, plan interventions and monitor student progress. It is sometimes referred to as a SIT team (Student Intervention Team).

Progress Monitoring

Data used to frequently check student progress towards success. Most often, progress monitoring data comes from short (2-3 minute) normed assessment probes given every 1-4 weeks.  Progress monitoring assessments should be directly tied to deficit skill areas and specific areas of targeted instruction (i.e. fluency, vocabulary building, computation, etc.).

Reliability

Reliability refers to the consistency or dependability of a test across time or across items.  Reliability is determined by test-retest or internal consistency.  Test-retest reliability describes whether a test provides similar test results over a short period of time (2 to 3 week period).  Internal consistency reliability describes whether all test items are measuring the same test construct (statistical procedures are used to determine the internal consistency between items on a test).  Acceptable total test reliability coefficients should be between .80-.90.

Research-based Interventions

Instructional strategies and curricular components that have been validated as effective by experimental design studies that:
a) have been applied to a large study sample,
b) show a direct correlation between the intervention and student progress, and
c) have been reported in peer-reviewed journals.

Standard Protocol

A standard protocol is a system for assigning groups of students to a targeted or intensive intervention based on data regarding a specific skill deficiency (for example: any student who earns 2 disciplinary referrals on the playground has to attend a Play it Safe group for 4 weeks; any student with 4 or more data points that indicate that their reading fluency skill is below benchmark are assigned to a Read Naturally intervention 3 times a week for 30 minutes for 6 weeks).

Summative Assessment

Summative assessment is administered less frequently than formative assessments and progress monitoring measures, typically no more than once or twice a year.  Summative assessment determines if the long term goal has been met, while formative assessments measure if the objectives are being met.

Targeted Level
(tier)

Supplemental curriculum/instructional practices that are aligned with the core/universal curriculum and that are designed to meet the specific needs of the targeted group (can be provided in either the classroom setting or in a pull-out setting depending on needs of the group).

Trendline

Line on a graph that connects data points; compare against aimline to determine responsiveness to intervention.

Universal Level (tier)

Foundation of curriculum and school organization that has a high probability (80-90% of students responding) of bringing students to a high level of achievement in all areas of development/content.

Validity

An indication that an assessment reliably measures what it is designed to measure.