Test your basic knowledge |

DSST Educational Terms Vocab

Subjects : dsst, teaching
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Students with certain special needs - as specified by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) - have a legal right to a special plan written by a multidisciplinary team. After a series of tests and observations determine the child's ne






2. The idea that families should have more than one alternative when enrolling their children in school.






3. The effort to ensure that what teachers teach is in accord with what the curriculum says will be taught and what is assessed on official tests.






4. Schools - almost always located in urban or low-income rural areas - in which an unacceptably low proportion of students meet established standards - as indicated by test scores. Also called failing schools.






5. The idea of E. D. Hirsch - professor of English at the University of Virginia - that there is a certain body of knowledge (core knowledge) that people must know to be well-educated - well-rounded American citizens.






6. The practice of dividing students for instruction according to their perceived abilities. Students are placed on a particular track (college-bound - general - vocational - and remedial) and given a curriculum that varies according to their perceived






7. A form of instruction that seeks to 'maximize each student's growth by meeting each student where she is and helping the student to progress.






8. Schools - almost always located in urban or low-income rural areas - in which an unacceptably low proportion of students meet established standards - as indicated by test scores. Also called low-performing schools.






9. An approach to curriculum and teaching that involves students in solution of real-life problems rather than conventional study of terms and information.






10. Refers to Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 - which is intended to improve education in high-poverty communities by targeting extra resources to schools and school districts with the highest concentrations of povert






11. Educational programs for students who - because they have a disability of some kind - require special instructional help to reach their potential. This may include specially trained teachers - innovative technology or instructional materials - access






12. Schools that differ in one or more ways from conventional public schools. Alternative schools may reflect a particular teaching philosophy - such as individualization - or a specific focus - such as science and technology. Alternative schools may als






13. A technique for teaching language arts that emphasizes the reading and writing of whole texts (sometimes beginning with picture books) before analyzing words and individual letter sounds.






14. The practice of educating all children in the same classroom - including children with physical - mental - and developmental disabilities. Inclusion classes often require a special assistant to the classroom teacher. In a fully inclusive school or cl






15. Established in 1965 - Head Start is intended to foster healthy development of low-income children to help them succeed in school. Head Start and Early Head Start are federally sponsored - comprehensive child development programs that serve children f






16. An informal term for assigning students to the same teacher for more than one school year.






17. The case heard by the United States Supreme Court in 1954 in which racial segregation in public schools was held to be unconstitutional.






18. The habits and values taught in schools that are not specified in the official written curriculum. May refer to what critics see as an overemphasis on obedience - dependence - and conformity.






19. Learning materials designed to help students understand abstract ideas by handling physical objects. An abacus is a mathematics manipulative.






20. NAEP (pronounced 'nape') - is also known as The Nation's Report Card. It is a federally funded program (currently contracted to Educational Testing Service in Princeton - N.J.) that provides information about the achievement of students nationally an






21. Differences in the way students learn more readily.






22. A theory of intelligence developed in the 1980s by Howard Gardner - professor of education at Harvard University. Gardner defines intelligence broadly as 'the capacity to solve problems or fashion products that are valued in one or more cultural sett






23. Students who are reasonably fluent in another language but who have not yet achieved comparable mastery in reading - writing - listening - or speaking English. LEP students are often assigned to bilingual education or English-as-a-second-language (ES






24. A theory of education that places importance on the complete experience of learning and the ways in which the separate parts of the learning experience are interrelated.






25. Specific descriptions of performance of a given task at several different levels of quality. Teachers use rubrics to evaluate student performance on performance tasks. The way a teacher provides support to make sure students succeed at complex tasks






26. A standard for judging a performance..






27. The goal of equity is to achieve a high-quality education for all students - regardless of gender - race - ethnicity - socioeconomic status - disabilities - or special needs. Studies show widespread inequities in financial support - classroom expecta






28. Intelligence quotient






29. A test given to evaluate and document what students have learned. The term is used to distinguish such tests from formative tests - which are used primarily to diagnose what students have learned in order to plan further instruction






30. The way a teacher organizes and administers routines to make classroom life as productive and satisfying as possible. What some people might describe narrowly as 'discipline.'






31. Measuring the learning and performance of students or teachers. Different types of assessment instruments include achievement tests - minimum competency tests - developmental screening tests - aptitude tests - observation instruments - performance ta






32. With a membership of nearly 6.5 million - National PTA (also known as Parent Teacher Association) is a nonprofit organization of parents - teachers - students - and others that encourages parental and public involvement in the schools - advocates for






33. Students who have a higher than average probability of dropping out or failing school. Broad categories usually include inner-city - low-income - and homeless children; those not fluent in English; and special-needs students with emotional disabiliti






34. Activities - exercises - or problems that require students to show what they can do.






35. The idea that one gender or the other is short-changed by school practices and expectations. The term may refer to the difficulties boys tend to have in conforming to classroom routines and learning to read and write - or it may refer to lower averag






36. A phrase used in the Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA) to describe the type of setting schools should provide for students with disabilities.






37. Tests used to determine which individual students get rewards - honors - or sanctions. Low-stakes tests are used primarily to improve student learning. Tests with high stakes attached include college entrance examinations and tests students must pass






38. Use of assessment strategies - such as performance assessment - constructed response items - and portfolios - to replace or supplement assessment by machine-scored multiple-choice tests.






39. Tests created by a school district or state that students must pass before graduating






40. A revision of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act - the IDEA is a federal law passed in 1991 and amended in 1997 that guarantees a free appropriate public education for eligible children and youth with disabilities. According to the law -






41. In testing - an estimate of how closely the results of a test would match if the test were given repeatedly to the same student under the same conditions (and there was no practice effect).






42. Standardized tests designed to measure how a student's performance compares with that of other students.






43. Persistent differences in achievement among different types of students as indicated by scores on standardized tests - teacher grades - and other data. The gaps most frequently referred to are those between whites and minority groups - especially Afr






44. Alternative public schools - most of which focus on a particular area of study - such as performing arts or science and technology but also offer regular school subjects.






45. The responsibility of an agency to its sponsors and clientele for accomplishing its mission with prudent use of resources. In education - accountability is currently thought to require measurable proof that teachers - schools - districts - and states






46. Students who - because of physical - developmental - behavioral - or emotional disabilities - require special instructional help to reach their potential. This may include specially trained teachers - innovative technology or instructional materials






47. A self-governing educational facility that operates under contract between the school's organizers and the sponsors (often local school boards but sometimes other agencies - such as state boards of education). The organizers are often teachers - pare






48. A certificate issued to parents that can be used as full or partial payment of tuition for any nonpublic school.






49. U.S. legislation passed in 1965 that provided large amounts of federal aid to states and local districts as part of the larger War on Poverty. ESEA must be reauthorized periodically by the Congress. The most well-known provision of ESEA is Title I -






50. Researcher Lauren Resnick has defined higher-order thinking as the kind of thinking needed when the path to finding a solution is not specified - and that yields multiple solutions rather than one. Higher-order thinking requires mental effort because