Educators, test publishers and other professionals who serve K-12 students often use a variety of acronyms. But what do they all mean? In this quick guide we explain some of the most common acronyms that are used for K-12 education today.
CBA – Curriculum-Based Assessment. After students receive instruction according to an established plan of study, this type of assessment measures how well students have learned the target knowledge.
ED – US Department of Education. This federal agency oversees the nation’s education system. It is responsible for establishing and administering federal education policies and programs, which include data collection and enforcement of education-related civil rights laws.
EL / ELL – English Learner / English Language Learner. A student whose strongest language is not English and who experiences difficulties participating in an English-only classroom. Currently, 10% of K-12 students in the US are ELs. Many ELs benefit from language assistance and support on their journey to English proficiency.
ELA – English Language Arts. A subject area that includes developing effective reading, writing, listening and speaking skills, which are key for student success inside and outside the classroom.
ESSA – Every Student Succeeds Act. This act was signed into law in 2015. Some of its mandates include: annual assessment of every English Learner’s English proficiency, reasonable accommodation for ELs during state assessments and accountability systems to measure each EL’s progress.
HLS – Home Language Survey. This is a questionnaire that a student’s parent or guardian is asked to complete when enrolling the student in a public school in the United States for the first time. The questionnaire typically asks what language the student first learned, what language is used in the home, etc. It is used to help schools and education agencies to identify students who are English Learners and offer them the appropriate language assistance and support.
LEP – Limited English Proficient. Someone who is not fluent in the English language, typically because it is not their first language. LEP individuals make up approximately 9% of the US population.
NAEP – National Assessment of Educational Progress. Also called The Nation’s Report Card, the NAEP is a series of assessments that regularly measure the knowledge and skills of fourth-, eighth- and twelve-grade students across the country in different subject areas. The assessments are administered every two or four years and are designed for comparability.
OCR – Office for Civil Rights. It is a sub-agency of the US Department of Education and helps to enforce federal civil rights laws in education.
Need some more acronyms? Chances are we speak your stakeholders’ language. Responsive Translation provides a range of foreign-language services for K-12 education. This includes item development, instructional design and authentic passage review, as well as translation, adaptation, validation and review for assessments and other educational materials in more than 80 languages. For more information, please get in touch at 646-847-3309 or [email protected].