| adequate yearly progress (AYP) | A provision under the No Child Left Behind Act that requires each state to measure school and student achievement to insure that appropriate progress is being made. Schools that fail to meet the AYP criteria (often determined by standardized tests) face consequences.
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| authentic assessment | A type of evaluation that represents actual performance, encourages students to reflect on their own work, and is integrated into the student's whole learning process. Such tests usually require that students synthesize knowledge from different areas and use that knowledge actively.
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| content standards | The knowledge, skills, and dispositions that students should master in each subject. These standards are often linked to broader themes and sometimes to testing programs.
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| core curriculum | A central body of knowledge that schools require all students to study.
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| core knowledge | Awareness of the central ideas, beliefs, personalities, writings, events, etc. of a culture. Also termed cultural literacy.
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| creationism | The position that God created the universe, the earth, and living things on the earth in precisely the manner described in the Old Testament, in six, 24-hour periods.
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| critical pedagogy | An education philosophy that unites the theory of critical thinking with actual practice in real-world settings. The purpose is to eliminate the cultural and educational control of the dominant group, to have students apply critical thinking skills to the real world and become agents for social change.
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| critical thinking skills | Higher-order intellectual skills such as comparing, interpreting, observing, summarizing, classifying, creating, and criticizing.
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| cultural literacy | Knowledge of the people, places, events, idioms and informal content of the dominant culture.
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| curriculum | Planned content of instruction that enables the school to meet its aims.
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| digital divide | A term used to describe the technological gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots." Race, gender, class, and geography are some of the demographic factors influencing technological access and achievement.
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| evolution | As put forth by Charles Darwin, a keystone of modern biological theory and postulates that animals and plants have their origin in other preexisting types and that there are modifications in successive generations.
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| extracurriculum | The part of school life that comprises activities, such as sports, academic and social clubs, band, chorus, orchestra, and theater. Many educators think that the extracurriculum develops important skills and values, including leadership, teamwork, creativity, and diligence.
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| formal or explicit curriculum | A school's official curriculum that is reflected in academic courses and requirements.
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| implicit or hidden curriculum | What students learn, other than academic content, from what they do or are expected to do in school; incidental learnings.
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| intelligent design | The argument that instances in nature cannot be explained by Darwinian evolution, but instead are consistent with the notion of an intelligent involvement in the design of life.
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| last mile problem | A digital divide in which geography is a factor, in part because running fiber-optic cables to rural schools is often an expense that telecommunications companies avoid. See also digital divide.
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| metacognition | Self-awareness of our thinking process as we perform various tasks and operations. For example, when students articulate how they think about academic tasks, it enhances their thinking and enables teachers to target assistance and remediation.
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| multicultural education | Educational policies and practices that not only recognize but also affirm human differences and similarities associated with gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, and class.
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| No Child Left Behind (NCLB) | A federal law passed in 2001 that emphasizes high-stakes standardized testing by requiring schools to annually assess students' achievement in reading, math, and science. Schools report not only individual test scores but also scores by race, ethnicity, disability, social class, and limited English proficiency.
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| null curriculum | The curriculum that is not taught in schools.
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| opportunity-to-learn standards | Standards that attempt to recognize and respond to individual differences and circumstances. Poorer students learning in schools with fewer resources should receive more appropriate and adequate learning opportunities, and if some students need more time to take tests, additional time should be provided. Also called delivery standards.
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| performance standards | Statements that describe what teachers or students should be able to do, and how well they should do it.
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| standards-based education | Education that specifies precisely what students should learn, focuses the curriculum and instruction (and perhaps much more) on meeting those standards, and provides continual testing to see if the standards are achieved.
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| stealth or self-censorship | The quiet removal of a book from a library shelf or a course of study to avoid possible problems and parental complaints. Teachers practice the same sort of self-censorship when they choose not to teach a topic or not to discuss a difficult issue.
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| textbook adoption states | States, most often those in the South and West, that have a formal process for assessing, choosing, and approving textbooks for school use.
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