Board Dictionary

Ability/Aptitude Test
A measurement device used two ways: by schools to assess the general ability of students (used sometimes to group them according to ability) and by college admissions offices to predict student performance and to make decisions regarding who should be admitted.

Accommodation Plan
A written outline specifying modifications and adjustments made to meet the needs of a disabled student.

ADD
Attention Deficit Disorder

ADHD
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Administrative Law
The part of public law that regulates the conduct of public agencies and governs the rights of individuals in their dealings with those agencies; the body of law created by administrative orders and administrative rulings.

Administrative Order
Regulations issued by an administrative officer to specify and amplify the provisions of the statutes administered by the agency; properly issued, such administrative orders have the full force of law.

Administrative Rule
A directive prepared by the school administration that sets forth the mechanics for implementing board policy. Tells how, by whom, where, and when things are to be done.

Ad Valorem Tax
A tax levied by a governing body on the assessed valuation of the personal or real property located with its jurisdiction.

Appropriation (Line Item)
Authorization granted by a governing body to make expenditures and to incur obligations for a specific purpose; this appears on a line of a budget document just the way it is paid out: salaries on one line, utilities on another.

Alternative Schools
The term broadly refers to public schools which are set up by states or school districts to serve populations of students who are not succeeding in the traditional public school environment. They are often characterized by their flexible schedules, smaller teacher-student ratios and modified curricula.

Assessment Ratio
A rate applied to the assessed valuation of property for purposes of determining the amount of tax to be levied.

ADA (Average Daily Attendance)
The sum of the per day attendance totals in a reporting period divided by the number of days school is in session during this period.

BD
Behavior Disorder

Budget - Appropriational
A budget, characterized by the designation of sums available for specific items of expenditure; its adoption automatically authorizes the expenditures listed.

Budget - Functional
A budget that uses the line item, or traditional format to group proposed expenditures first according to general activities or action performed. Examples of functional categories are administration, instruction, pupil personnel services, operation and maintenance.

Budget - Operating or General Fund
A budget that groups proposed expenditures according to certain categories known as the"object" of the expenditure. On each line of the budget, expenses are listed just the way they are paid out: supplies on one line, utilities on another line. "Supplies" are one object and "Utilities" are another object.

CBM
Certified Board Member - New Board of Education members are required by state law to complete 16 hours of training during their first year of tenure. A "Certified Board Member" has completed the required training.

Charter Schools
Schools run independently of the traditional public school system but receiving public funding, run by groups such as teachers, parents or foundations. Charter schools are free of many district regulations.

Cocurricular School
Sponsored activities or courses for students in addition to required subjects. Examples: drama and photography.

Cognitive
A generic term for any process whereby a person obtains knowledge; includes conceiving, perceiving, judging, and reasoning.

Committee - Steering
A committee generally representative of the various interests involved in and responsible for the overall determination (and sometimes implementation) of policies in regard to a project or activity that is to be undertaken; may function on a national, state, or local level.

Compensatory Education
An education program that seeks to offset disadvantages a person has encountered in relation to such areas as schooling, housing, employment, family income, civil rights, cultural patterns, and lifestyles.

Competency-Based Education
An organized system or teaching intended to ensure mastery of prescribed skills and behaviors.

CRT (Criterion Referenced Test)
Evaluation instrument used to determine achievement levels in relation to a specific task. Example: a spelling test.

Critical Path
This identifies those tasks within a project that require the longest time periods and greatest managerial attention.

CSIP
Comprehensive School Improvement Plan

Cumulative Record
A written record of activities and achievements of a student from the time the child first enters school.

Current Expense
An expenditure except for capital outlay and debt service. When accounts are kept on an accrual basis, current expense includes total charges incurred, whether paid or unpaid. When accounts are kept on a cash basis, it includes only actual disbursements.

Curriculum Guide
A series of suggestions in written form concerning what may be or should be taught in a course.

Debt Service
The payment of interest and amortization charges of a debt.

Decentralization
The breakup and distribution of power from a central government authority. In education, the term is most frequently used to describe the transfer of school policymaking authority from the federal to the state level, or the transfer of decision-making authority from the state level to districts or schools.

Distributive Education
Training or teaching in selling, display, and marketing procedures.

EMR (Educable Mentally Retarded)
A child who because of slow mental development is unable to profit to any great extent from the programs of regular schools, but who has potential for development of the ability to get along independently in the community.

EP
Eligible Pupil

ESCE
Early Childhood Special Education family income, civil rights, cultural patterns, and lifestyles.

ESOL
English Speakers of Other Languages

Exceptional Child
One who deviates intellectually, physically, socially, or emotionally in growth and development so markedly from what is considered normal that he cannot receive maximum benefit from a regular school program and requires a special class or supplementary instruction and services; usually refers to a handicapped student.

Executive Session/Closed Session
Meetings of the board that by law are not open to the public; these usually deal with personnel matters, negotiation strategy, and building site selection.

Ex-Officio Member
Usually someone who is a member of a school board or similar body by virtue of holding an elective or appointive office, sometimes by virtue of former membership on the board or in the group; usually a non-voting member.

Federal Register
A daily publication that serves official notice to the public of regulations or intended actions by agencies in the executive branch of the federal government; includes all proposed and final regulations, notices of intended rule making, executive orders, reorganization plans, and program deadline.

Fiscal Year
Any twelve-month period established for accounting purposes. (Rolla Public Schools fiscal year is July 1 - July 31.)

Fixed Salary Schedule
An established plan for paying salaries to teachers, supervisors, and administrators according to a specific scale of increases depending on length of service and/or professional preparation.

Formula - Equalization
Under certain state and federal programs, the rule used to divide appropriated funds equitably among the jurisdictions; it is usually based on such criteria as population, per capita income, or the relative prevalence of problems intended to be solved; sometimes called "allocation formula."

Grandfather Clause
A provision exempting certain parties from requirements of the new law or regulation; often used in statutes governing certification, contract, and retirement; usually applies to situations that existed before enactment of the law or rule.

Grant in Aid
A financial grant, frequently paid periodically, made by a government or agency to another government or agency or to an individual for a general or special purpose, such as a grant by the federal government to the states for the promotion of vocational education; usually requires a preliminary matching contribution and compliance with certain criteria by the one receiving the grant.

Grievance Arbitration
The final step in a grievance procedure that is used to determine whether a violation, misapplication, or misinterpretation of an existing agreement has occurred; may be either advisory or binding.

Hardware
Machines and technical equipment used in presenting audiovisual and programmed materials.

Homebound Instruction
Individual teaching in a child's home by an itinerant teacher or via a communication system; usually used in reference to education of the handicapped and for students unable to attend school because of illness or injury.

IASA
Improving Americas Schools Act

IDEA
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

IEP
Individual Education Program

Initiative
In government, a procedure by which a specified number of voters may propose a statute, constitutional amendment, or ordinance; the general right to present a new legislative bill.

In Service Education
A general term used to describe on-the-job efforts to promote the professional growth and development of employees.

Intangible Property
Stocks, bonds, or bank accounts.

Inter-discipline
Used to describe an instructional process that combines information from two or more subjects or that allows teachers with different academic disciplines to plan a program.

Itinerant Teacher
One who travels to two or more schools or to homes and hospitals to teach certain pupils; sometimes called a circuit teacher or a homebound teacher.

Job Action
Concerted action by employees such as strike or slowdown, taken for the purpose of inducing, influencing, or forcing a change in employment conditions.

Language Arts
A general term used to designate the subjects of reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Language Laboratory
A specialized place of instruction usually containing audio (or audio and visual) equipment at student stations; often includes individual, two-way communication between the teacher and student.

Learning Disabilities
One or more deficiencies exhibited by a child in the essential learning processes of perception, conceptualization, language, memory, attention, impulse control, or physical motor function.

Learning Resource Center
A specially designed space containing a wide range of supplies and equipment for the use of individual pupils or small groups pursuing independent study; frequenting provided are library books, a variety of audiovisual equipment and supplies, maps, and models; often includes places to study, view films, and hold meetings.

Lesson Plan
A teacher's outline that arranges in order or presentation the important points in a specific lesson; it also may include objectives, questions to ask, reference to materials, and assignments.

Licensure
The granting of permission by the state to individuals to practice a restricted occupation, such as teaching,, after successfully meeting regulations or completing required courses.

Liability - Board
A term referring to the fact that a school board, as a corporate entity, might be liable for monetary damages because of actions by its officers, employees or agents.

Liability - Personal
A term meaning, in general, that school board members might be personally liable for monetary damages because of their own actions or actions of their district's employees and agents; board members have been held personally liable when they acted in bad faith, with malice, fraudulently, from corrupt motives, or in excess of their authority.

Mainstreaming
Moving handicapped children from their segregated status in special education classes and integrating them with children in regular classrooms.
MASA
Missouri Association of School Administrators

MBO (Management by Objectives)
A systematic management approach whereby administrators and their subordinates agree upon and meet specific goals and objectives.

M&O (Maintenance and Operations)
A category of state funding for education. Money appropriated by M&O may
be used at the local school board's discretion, for anything from floor mops
to teacher salaries.

Magnet School
A comprehensive school, usually in a metropolitan area, that offers enriched instruction in one or more subjects. Schools that place an emphasis on academic achievement or on a particular field such as science, designed to attract students from elsewhere.

Master Plan
An overall plan for an entire school district. It usually includes grade-enrollment projections and determinations of needed facilities.

Mediation
An informal attempt by a third party to help settle an employment dispute through advice or other suggestions, but without specific public recommendations for settlements.

MSBA
Missouri School Boards Association

MSIP
Missouri School Improvement Program

Norm-Referenced Tests
A test in which a student's score is compared to the average score achieved by a nationwide sampling of students. Standardized aptitude and achievement tests are norm referenced tests, and scores are given in relation to a national norm.

ODD
Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Percentile
A statistical term. Example: a child ranked in the 99th percentile on a test indicated that, of all persons tested, only 1 percent scored higher.

Performance Contracting
A contract in which a private company agrees to produce certain education results for a fee and agrees not to charge the school for children who do not measure up to the achievement level stated in the contract.

Policy
A statement adopted by a school board or an administrative agency outlining principles to be followed with respect to specific matters; a policy usually requires rules or regulations to be adopted for its implementation and is broad enough to provide for administrative decisions regarding the exact manner in which it will be implemented.

Privatization
Transfer of the management of public schools to private or for-profit education organizations. Privatization emphasizes typical business-oriented concepts such as customer satisfaction and managerial autonomy in running schools.

Programmed Instruction
Educational materials (such as texts, teaching machines, and audiovisual aides) arranged in a logical sequence. A student may progress at his own rate; his learning is reinforced by instant awareness that his answers are accurate or inaccurate.

Psychomotor Skills
Those skills involving both mind and body, such as typing, drawing, running.

Quartile
A one-quarter range of percentiles; a student who placed among the top 25 percent of those taking a test would be in the first quartile.

r.net
Resource Network for Effective Training

Reading Readiness
A term referring to a child's intellectual and physical ability to learn to read.

Ruberick
A scoring guide.

SB380
Outstanding Schools Act of 1993 - Comprehensive school legislation that brought the new funding formula, Show-Me Standards, and new student achievement testing.

Software
All non-hardware elements of a computer system, including written computer programs, flow charts, and other items related to information systems; educational programming such as a televised lecture or an audio tape.

School-Based Management
The shift of decision-making authority from school districts to individual schools. Such proposals vary, but they usually give control of a school's operation to a school council composed of parents, teachers and local administrators.

School Reform
A generic term encompassing all kinds of efforts that are taking place to improve schools. Reform efforts focus on all aspects of school, from how schools are governed to what curriculum is taught in the classroom.

Systems Analysis
The process of identifying goals, considering all facts and resources in alternative approaches, and giving though to the relation between input and output.

Tort
Any negligent or willful and wrongful act of school officers or employees that injures pupils or other innocent persons.

T.M.R. (Trainable Mentally Retarded)
A child incapable of achieving any significant proficiency in academic skills, but who is capable of profiting from programs of training in self-care, social skills, and simple vocational pursuits.

Valuation - State Equalized
The valuation of real property under a state system designed to ensure that the rate of assessment is consistent throughout the state.

VOLTS
Visionary Organizational Leadership for Tomorrow's Schools - VOLTS is a new model of board governance for Missouri's schools. This model supports many of the principles of policy government developed by Dr. John Carver although it has some unique components as well. VOLTS empowers boards to provide strategic leadership for schools. VOLTS is based on creating a shared vision that identifies end results, connecting to school owners, providing explicit policies and assuring school district
performance.

Vouchers
A document usually issued by the state that can be used by parents to pay tuition at an out-of-district public school, a private school, and/or religious school. The term is also used more broadly to describe school-choice proposals in which states would help pay tuition for children attending private or religious schools.

Voucher Plan
A program that allocates public funds to pay for a child's education in any public or private school selected by the child's parents or guardian.

Website by SchoolMessenger Presence. © 2024 SchoolMessenger Corporation. All rights reserved.