With technology pushing us to communicate faster and faster, both educators and youth are condensing our language down to acronyms and abbreviations. This new boiled down language can be so cryptic and obscure that without translation, one could become frustrated. Provided is a list of some of the most commonly used education acronyms.
wuz up? – n2m u? – n2m hanging – where were u 2nite? didn’t c u – had 2 stay home P911 – lol – brb – k – back, r u goin to skewl 2morrow? – no, I h8 skewl – lol, me 2 – g2g, talk 2 u 2morrow – Cya – Cya1
At our last Ward 10 Council Meeting, one of the attendees commented on his frustration of not being able to understand much of what had been discussed, due to the numerous acronyms. He questioned that perhaps parents did not attend the meetings due to the obscurity of the language. A comment I identified with having spent the past year at OISE (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) attaining my Bachelor of Education. During class, many of us passed notes to fellow TC’s (Teacher Candidates) asking “What is the HRC or an IEP?” (Human Rights Commission and Individual Education Plan).
The pragmatic in me decided to create a list of the most common acronyms used and their definitions. A goal that was easier to conceive than to execute. My first step was to ask my fellow TC’s as well as my AT’s (Associate Teachers) to contribute their favourite acronyms. Once I had a significant collection, I began to research the definitions. However, in searching for one solid definition, I found that different associations and groups had different perspectives on the same acronym, inspiring me to dig deeper than I had anticipated.
In the end, I have chosen to cite where I found a specific definition or post the most accepted definition. Should anyone want to add or amend my list please do so by commenting. Upon reflection of my initial goal however, my title question remains unanswered – for me at least.
1 BTW: the above says-
What’s up? – Not too much, you? – Not too much, just hanging. – Where were you tonight? – I had to stay home because my parents were on me. – Laugh Out Loud. – Be Right Back. – Ok. – I’m Back. Are you going to school tomorrow? – No! I hate school. – Laugh Out Loud. Me too. Gotta Go. Talk to you tomorrow. – See ya – See ya.
ABC
Association for Bright Children of Ontario
ADHD
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is the medical term used to describe a neurobiological condition that affects between 5 and 12 per cent of children worldwide with impairing levels of inattentive or hyperactive/impulsive behaviour, as well as those with a formal diagnosis of ADHD. A diagnosis is based on developmentally inappropriate behavioural symptoms that begin in pre-school years and tend to persist through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.3 These symptoms include inattention, hyperactivity, and/or impulsivity. http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/Tannock.pdf
ADD
Attention Deficit Disorder is a biologically based condition causing a persistent pattern of challenges, similar to ADHD.
ADP
Assistive Devices Program
ARC
An Area Review Committee is approved by the Board to bring school and community stakeholders together to consider the future of a school or a group of schools. (thanks to Andrea Alimi)
AST
Area Support Teacher – A special education teacher assigned to several schools. They help in program strategies and may work directly with students.
BILL 82
Gave the legal right for gifted students to receive special education. Now incorporated into the Education Act.
CASI
Comprehension Attitude Strategies Interests Reading Assessment for Grades 4-8 has been distributed to all TDSB schools. These grade-specific assessment packages include reading passages and other components such as oral retelling, reading conference, miscue analysis, oral and written comprehension questions— assessments that provide important information to enable teachers to improve the reading skills and strategies of all learners. http://www.tdsb.on.ca/educators/eqao_results/documents/literacy.pdf
CBRM
Community Based Resource Model a comprehensive, long-term plan to reinvest and build stronger, community-based supports to serve more special education students in local schools. CBRM is committed to the concept of inclusionary education as stated in the TDSB Special Education Plan:
“…an attitude about the need and the right to ‘belong’ to one’s community. Inclusionary education is the belief that all of the students in a community, including those students with special learning needs, should receive their education to the fullest extent possible in the local community school.”
http://www.tdsb.on.ca/wwwdocuments/programs/special_education/docs/Report%20on%20the%20Evaluation%20of%20CBRM.pdf
DD
Developmental Disabled children have learning needs that require highly specialized support and assistance. Children may have medical or health needs, may have difficulty communicating and extreme difficulty learning. These needs are usually identified by the IPRC and special education support services are provided. http://www.oafccd.com/factshee/fact21.htm
DRA
Developmental Reading Assessment has been implemented Board-wide, Grades 1-3. This assessment tool provides diagnostic information on reading comprehension, fluency, accuracy, phrasing, expression, and attention to punctuation. Using the information collected during the assessment, the teacher identifies what the student needs to learn next and the specific skills that will be the focus of instruction. The DRA is primarily a resource that is intended to support the classroom teacher. However, it is also being used to collect data on a sample of students to monitor reading skills in Grades One, Two and Three across the Board.
http://www.tdsb.on.ca/educators/eqao_results/documents/literacy.pdf
EA
Educational Assistant is an individual whose placement meets the needs of a program within the school. The EA is there to support the teacher so that all students’ needs are met.
ECE
Early Childhood Education
SNA
Special Needs Assistant is an individual whose placement meets the needs of a specific student within a school. The SNA is there to support the teacher so that the student’s needs are met. Note: SNA’s are funded from a different budget than regular EAs.
EQAO
Education Quality and Accountability Office is an advisory board legislated into creation in 1996 by the Government of Ontario in response to recommendations made by the Royal Commission on Learning in February 1995. The board’s initial duties were to advise the Minister of Education and Training on elementary and secondary education assessment programs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EQAO
ESL
English as a Second Language
ESD
English Literacy Development
EYLP
Early Year Learning Program creates a school-wide focus on literacy to improve reading and writing skills for all students in Kindergarten to Grade 3. The intent is that all students in the primary years will read and write at grade level. The seventy-eight schools project schools receive additional staff who provide leadership and support for early literacy instruction, and receives an allocation of Reading RecoveryTM staff, who provide one-to-one intervention for at-risk readers in Grade 1. Administrators, literacy coordinators, and teachers in EYLP schools receive on- going professional development throughout the year, including the opportunity to pursue Additional Qualifications courses in Reading.
FSL
French as a Second Language
HSP
Home School Program is a half-day program for students with moderate needs. Rather than place the students in a segregated program outside of their home school; the students are integrated in the regular classroom for half the day and are in a special education classroom for the other half the day. Because the students in the home school program are from the immediate community, there can be a very wide range of needs among the students in the program. Staff for the home school program are allocated based on the school population. Provided by Annie Dupuis
IEP
Individual Education Plan:
- a written plan describing the special education program and/or services required by a particular student, based on a thorough assessment of the student’s strengths and needs – that is, the strengths and needs that affect the student’s ability to learn and to demonstrate learning;
- a record of the particular accommodations2needed to help the student achieve his or her learning expectations, given the student’s identified learning strengths and needs;
- a working document that identifies learning expectations that are modified from the expectations for the age-appropriate grade level in a particular subject or course, as outlined in the Ministry of Education’s curriculum policy documents;
- a working document that identifies alternative expectations, if required, in program areas not represented in the Ontario curriculum;
- a record of the specific knowledge and skills to be assessed and evaluated for the purpose of reporting student achievement of modified and/or alternative expectations;
- an accountability tool for the student, the student’s parents, and every- one who has responsibilities under the plan for helping the student meet the stated goals and learning expectations as the student progresses through the Ontario curriculum.
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/guide/resource/iepresguid.pdf
IPRC
Identification, Placement and Review Committee
Exceptional pupils are identified as such by an Identification, Placement, and Review Committee (IPRC). Upon receiving a written request from a student’s parent(s)/guardian(s), the principal of the school must refer the student to an IPRC. The IPRC will decide whether the student is an exceptional pupil and, if so, what type of educational placement is appropriate. The principal may also, on written notice to the parent(s)/guardian(s), refer the student to an IPRC. The parent(s)/guardian(s), as well as a student who is sixteen years of age or older, have the right to attend the IPRC meeting and may request that the IPRC discuss potential programs that would meet the student’s needs. On the basis of these discussions, the IPRC can recommend the special education programs and/or services that it considers to be appropriate for the student.
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/identifi.html
LAMP
Literacy Assessment Manual Primary a rich, classroom-based resources containing assessment tools that teachers can use to assess students’ development and achievement in various aspects of literacy.
http://www.tdsb.on.ca/educators/eqao_results/documents/literacy.pdf
LEAP
Literacy Enrichment Academic Program is an intensive upgrading program for students who have recently arrived in Ontario schools with limited prior schooling. Some have not had the opportunity to attend school at all before arriving in Canada. As a result, these students are significantly behind their peers in literacy and numeracy, and would not achieve level 1 if assessed according to grade level expectations. LEAP helps students to make significant gains (equivalent to at least two grade levels in one academic year) in second language development, literacy and numeracy skills, and academic skills and knowledge, so that they can eventually be successfully integrated into the mainstream program. Since the number of students requiring LEAP is relatively small in individual schools, the program is offered as “congregated” programs in designated schools serving local clusters of schools. LEAP is provided for
newcomers beginning in Grade 6. http://www.tdsb.on.ca/educators/eqao_results/documents/literacy.pdf
Legacy School Board
refers to the seven former school boards of pre-amalgamated Toronto.
LD
Learning Disability affect one or more of the ways that a person takes in, stores, or uses information. LDs come in many forms and affect people with varying levels of severity. Between 5 and 10 percent of Canadians have LDs.LDs are a life-long condition – they do not go away – but can be coped with successfully by using areas of strength to compensate and accommodations such as technology.A quick example: a student could have an LD that affected her reading-and-understanding. She knows how to read, but the process of decoding the words and sentences takes so much effort that she comprehends little of what she’s read. This student has learned that this is the case, and now records lectures to listen to later, and listens to audio-books on tape and CD. She has compensated by using her strong listening skills.LDs and their effects are different from person to person, so a person’s pattern of learning abilities need to be understood in order to find good, effective strategies for compensation. http://www.ldao.ca/what_are_lds/definitions.php
MART
Methods and Resource Teachers provides withdrawal or “in-class” help to students who have been identified by the School Support Team as needing special assistance. The help usually focuses on one or two areas of concern such as expressive language, receptive language, mathematical concepts or skills, or organizational skills. The goal is to assist the child to acquire the necessary skills or learning strategies which will allow her/him to cope successfully in the regular classroom.
MI
Multiple Intelligences. The theory of multiple intelligences was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University. It suggests that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on I.Q. testing, is far too limited. Instead, Dr. Gardner proposes eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults. http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm
MID
Mild Intellectual Disability Many of the characteristics of MID correspond to those of Learning Disabilities. The intellectual development will be slow, however, MID students have the potential to learn within the regular classroom given appropriate modifications and/or accommodations. Some MID students will require greater support and/or withdrawal than others will. MID students, like all students demonstrate their own strengths and weaknesses.
MOE
Ministry of Education
MYALP
Middle Years Adolescent Literacy Program provides intensive, cross-curricular literacy support for students in Grades 6, 7, and 8. Launched in the fall of 2000, MYALP targets 19 high-needs schools, supporting programming and instructional practices that improve literacy. Participating schools receive additional staffing with in-depth professional development for teachers (including Additional Qualifications in Adolescent Literacy), enabling them to provide intensive intervention for struggling students. The effectiveness of the program is monitored through the on-going assessment of students and collection of assessment data. All students’ reading is assessed using CASI in the fall; results are interpreted and instruction is adjusted to meet students’ needs. Students are then reassessed in the spring. Students in the Middle Years Adolescent Literacy Project benefit from the commitment of all their teachers to teaching literacy skills in all school subjects.
http://www.tdsb.on.ca/educators/eqao_results/documents/literacy.pdf
OHRC
Ontario Human Rights Commission
OSSLT
Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test. The purpose of the OSSLT is to determine whether or not students have acquired the reading and writing skills that they are expected to have learned by the end of Grade 9, as outlined in The Ontario Curriculum. Students who began Grade 9 during the 2001-2002 school year and those who began it thereafter are required to write the OSSLT. These students are required to complete the test successfully in order to earn their OSSD. The Ministry of Education Grade 12 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC) was implemented in 2003-2004 as a credit course to provide an alternate to the mandatory test for students who have failed the OSSLT. To take the OSSLC, students must have had at least one opportunity to take the test.
http://www.tdsb.on.ca/educators/eqao_results/documents/OSSLT_QandA.pdf
OSR
Ontario Student Record is the record of a student’s educational progress through schools in Ontario. The Education Act requires that the principal of a school collect information “for inclusion in a record in respect of each pupil enrolled in the school and to establish, maintain, retain, transfer and dispose of the record”. The act also regulates access to an OSR and states that the OSR is “privileged for the information and use of supervisory officers and the principal and teachers of the school for the improvement of instruction” of the student. Each student and the parent(s) of a student who is not an adult (that is, a student who is under the age of eighteen) must be made aware of the purpose and content of, and have access to, all of the information contained in the OSR.
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/curricul/osr/osr.html
PART
A Program Area Review Team is comprised of TDSB departmental staff, local administrators, and community members (e.g. parent councils). It is formed upon Board approval where:
- Significant program adjustment needs are identified;
- Surplus accommodations for existing programs have been identified;
- Existing programs have insufficient accommodations (for example programs are located in schools that have portables on site); and/or
- Existing programs have inadequate facilities.
(thanks to Andrea Alimi)
PDD
Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) is a ‘subthreshold’ condition in which some – but not all – features of autism or another explicitly identified Pervasive Developmental Disorder are identified. PDD-NOS is often incorrectly referred to as simply “PDD.” The term PDD refers to the class of conditions to which autism belongs. PDD is NOT itself a diagnosis, while PDD-NOS IS a diagnosis. The term Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS; also referred to as “atypical personality development,” “atypical PDD,” or “atypical autism”) is included in DSM-IV to encompass cases where there is marked impairment of social interaction, communication, and/or stereotyped behavior patterns or interest, but when full features for autism or another explicitly defined PDD are not met. http://www.med.yale.edu/chldstdy/autism/pddnos.html
SEAC
Special Education Advisory Committee a committee
of parent association representatives, community representatives, and trustees. By law, mandated to advise the school boards on the Special Education Plan and budget. Provided by Annie Dupuis
SEPPA
Special Education Per Pupil Amount – a Special Education Grant provided to a school board based on the total enrolment and intended to meet the needs of the majority of exceptional students.
SERT
Special Education Resource Teacher SERT – Special Education Resource Teacher – A teacher assigned to a school to act as a resource for the staff and to provide indirect or direct service for special needs students.
SNA
Special Needs Assistant – EAs that are assigned to a specific child – for high needs children, who need constant supervision.WISC
Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children