2015-16 Public Education in Tennessee: A Policymaker’s Guide | Page 30

Glossary of Common Education Terms
Academic Standards:

Academic standards
provide a common set of expectations
for what students should know and be
able to do at the end of each grade and
in each subject. College and career ready
standards align with the knowledge and
skill students need to succeed in college
or career. Academic standards differ from
curriculum, which is developed locally in
Tennessee. Curriculum provides the instructional programming students need
to meet the goals established in academic
standards.

ACT:

The ACT is a standardized assessment for high school students frequently
required for admission into college. The
test has sections in English, mathematics,
reading, science reasoning, and an optional written essay. Scored on a scale from 1
to 36, the test is intended to be an indicator of college readiness. The subjects align
with common college introductory courses. All 11th-graders in Tennessee are required to take this exam.

Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP):

Adequate
yearly progress is a measure established
by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 that
holds schools accountable for the performance of their students on standardized
tests, including sub-groups such as racial/
ethnic minorities and students with disabilities. Tennessee has received a waiver
from No Child Left Behind’s AYP-based accountability model and developed its own
system of accountability. As a result of the
waiver, AYP is no longer used in Tennessee.

Alternative Salary Schedule:

Alternative
salary schedules tie a teacher’s compensation and incentives to professional
learning, student achievement, and other
measures. They contrast traditional salary
schedules, which uniformly increase the
pay of teachers based on number of years
teaching and level of degree completion.
Alternative salary schedules are currently
being implemented in Tennessee’s school
districts through the implementation of
differentiated pay plans.

Basic Education Program (BEP): The state
of Tennessee determines how to allocate
funds to its K-12 schools with the Basic
Education Program (BEP) formula. The BEP
formula calculates the cost of providing a
basic education. The BEP includes three
30 | Public Education in Tennesee

major categories of expenditures: instructional, classroom, and non-classroom
components. Within the BEP formula, the
primary basis for funding is student enrollment, or average daily membership
(ADM). The majority of the BEP’s 45 components are based on a school or district’s
ADM. Examples include students per
teacher, assistant principals per school,
and dollars per student for textbooks. Systems are free to raise additional money to
support their schools as well.

Career and Technical Education (CTE): Career
and technical education refers to courses
and programs designed to prepare students to enter the workforce. Usually in a
secondary or postsecondary setting, CTE
courses focus on academic and career
skills needed in the workplace and typically include competency-based learning.
CTE seeks to prepare students for jobs in
fields such as agriculture, engineering,
and health care.
Center of Regional Excellence (CORE):

CORE
offices, located in each state grand division, provide differentiated support to help
districts meet student achievement goals
in each part of the state. Staff and support
at each office include a data analyst and
math coordinator.

Charter Schools: Public charter schools are

independently run schools that are publicly funded and approved by local school
boards. In exchange for increased accountability, these schools have the flexibility to make personnel, financial, and instructional decisions at the school, rather
than the district level.

Curriculum: Curriculum is developed or
adopted locally in Tennessee. Curriculum
provides the instructional programming
students need to meet the goals established in academic standards.
Differentiated Pay Plans: Differentiated
pay plans tie a teacher’s compensation
and incentives to professional learning,
student achievement, leadership roles, a
willingness to teach in high-need subjects
or areas, and other measures. Differentiated pay plans differ from traditional salary schedules, which uniformly increase
teachers’ compensation based on number
of years teaching and level of degree completion.

Elementary and Secondary Education Act
(ESEA): The Elementary and Secondary Ed-

ucation Act (ESEA) is a federal education
law originally enacted in 1965 to provide
funding for low income and underserved
students. In 2001, ESEA was reauthorized
as the No Child Left Behind Act, which ties
the allocation of federal funds to the ability of schools and districts to demonstrate
“adequate yearly progress” by key subgroups of students historically underperforming on achievement measures. See
also No Child Left Behind.

Formative Assessments: Formative assess-

ments provide teachers and students
with ongoing feedback on students’ progress toward mastery on specific academic standards. More specifically, formative assessments help students identify
strengths and opportunities for growth in
different subject areas. Formative assessments help educators better understand
student needs and adjust their instruction
to improve their students’ learning outcomes.

Local Education Agency (LEA): A local education agency (LEA) or school districts are
the administrative agencies for county or
city school systems in Tennessee. An LEA
has several distinct responsibilities such
as curriculum selection, the offering of
district level professional learning opportunities for teachers and school leaders, or
the administration of teacher and principal evaluations.
Magnet Schools: Magnet schools are public
schools with specific themes or curricula.
In addition to distinct academic offerings,
magnet schools are open to students beyond the typical residential zone boundaries used to determine where students go
to school. Originally intended to increase
diversity, magnet schools’ specialized
curricula often center around STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), fine arts, enhanced rigor (e.g., International Baccalaureate), or career and
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