504 Plan: A “504” plan is for a student with determined "physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities" such as learning or walking. It is a legal document designed to protect student civil rights, ensuring that despite their disability, they will receive a full educational program without penalty or discrimination. The plan lists modifications and accommodations that are necessary for the student to have the same opportunities as their peers. 504 Plans are created and maintained through the Guidance Office.
CAAP: The Chester Academic Assistance Program responds to a need to strengthen reading, writing, and mathematical skills of students who are struggling to meet grade level expectations. Students receive additional instruction during their school day to learn skills and strategies within the General Education program to help them achieve success. This program is meant to be fluid, involving students as needs arise. CAAP may occur as a pull-out or push-in program.
CCSS: “The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort that established a single set of clear educational standards for kindergarten through 12th grade in English language arts and mathematics that states voluntarily adopt. The standards are designed to ensure that students graduating from high school are prepared to enter credit bearing entry courses in two or four year college programs or enter the workforce. The standards are clear and concise to ensure that parents, teachers, and students have a clear understanding of the expectations in reading, writing, speaking and listening, language and mathematics in school.” (Taken from CoreStandards.org)
CST: The Child Study Team is a group of educators within the Student Services department. The members include the Director of Student Services, School Psychologists, Learning Disabilities Teacher Consultants (LDTC), Social Workers, Occupational Therapists (OT), Speech and Language Specialists, and Physical Therapists (PT) http://www.chester-nj.org/webpages/jkrone/index.cfm
CANDO: A parent support group for children with disabilities. This group provides parents with information and support via monthly meetings. CANDO stands for Children’s Abilities, Not Disabilities Organization.
CogAT: Cognitive Abilities Test; This is a group-administered, standardized test used by Chester to help determine strengths in student’s learning. The test measures reasoning and problem solving skills in the areas of 1) verbal, 2) quantitative (mathematics), 3) spatial or non-verbal (using shapes and figures to solve problems). It is administered to all 2nd and 5th graders and the results are shared with parents, as well as used to identify students for our G&T program.
G&T: Gifted and Talented program; see G&T section for details
HIB: Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying; see HIB Section for details
IEP: Individualized Education Program “Each public school child who receives special education and related services must have an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Each IEP must be designed for one student and must be a truly individualized document. The IEP creates an opportunity for teachers, parents, school administrators, related services personnel and students (when appropriate) to work together to improve educational results for children with disabilities. The IEP is the cornerstone of a quality education for each child with a disability.” (from http://www.ncld.org/students-disabilities/iep-504-plan/what-is-iep National Center for Learning Disabilities)
ILA/ELA/LAL: Integrated Language Arts/English Language Arts/Language Arts Literacy: Reading, writing, listening, and speaking are all considered parts of ILA. This includes but is not limited to fiction, non-fiction, comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and conventions of writing.
I&RS: Intervention and Referral Services is a state mandated, “coordinated system … for the planning and delivery of intervention and referral services that are designed to assist students who are experiencing learning, behavior or health difficulties…” (NJAC 6A:16-7.1a) Bragg School’s I&RS team, headed by the School Counselor(s), has representatives from a variety of educational experiences. It is through these diverse backgrounds that the team can create a plan that best addresses the difficulties that a child is having in the school setting, whether related to health, academic, social, or emotional issues. The Team strives to use the expertise of all members to create a list of strategies, accommodations and interventions that will best support your child and facilitate their success as a student. At the meeting, background information and concerns are shared by teacher(s) and parents. The Team formulates a plan of action that will best assist the student to achieve success. The Team may reconvene after a short period of time to reevaluate the achievement level of the student, and from there modify or continue the plan, or to pursue other options. These plans are kept in a file, separate from the permanent record, and are shared only with the staff the student encounters in their day. In this way, everyone can assist in the successful implementation of the plan.
LEP: Limited English Proficient students means students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 whose native language is other than English and who have sufficient difficulty speaking, reading, writing or understanding the English language as measured by an English language proficiency test, so as to be denied the opportunity to learn successfully in the classrooms where the language of instruction is English. (from http://www.state.nj.us/education/code/current/title6a/chap15.pdf)
Lexile Score: A Lexile reader measure is the specific number that describes a student's reading comprehension ability. A student receives his or her Lexile measure through formal methods such as the SRI/HRI.
Lexile text measure is based on the semantic and syntactic elements of a text. Many other factors affect the relationship between a reader and a book, including its content, the age and interests of the reader, and the design of the actual book. The Lexile text measure is a good starting point in the book-selection process, with these other factors then being considered. (from Lexile.com)
NJSLA New Jersey Student Learning Assessment: The federal law requires states to use tests as a way of determining the performance levels of the schools , and the NJSLA serves the assessment needs of the State’s public schools for English Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics, and Science. ELA and Mathematics are given annually in grades 3 - 8, usually in May. The Science test is given to 5th, 8th and 11th grade scholars. For more information, please visit NJSLA Resources page
NJSLS: New Jersey Student Learning Standards; Taken from NJ BOE Website: http://www.state.nj.us/education/cccs/ “… (T)he standards provide local school districts with clear and specific benchmarks for student achievement in nine content areas. Developed and reviewed by panels of teachers, administrators, parents, students, and representatives from higher education, business, and the community, the standards are influenced by national standards, research-based practice, and student needs. The standards define a "Thorough and Efficient Education" as guaranteed in 1875 by the New Jersey Constitution. Currently the standards are designed to prepare our students for college and careers by emphasizing high-level skills needed for tomorrow's world.”
PRISE: The publication, Parental Rights in Special Education (PRISE), is a booklet DOE has developed to assist parents in understanding their role and rights under the law so they can advocate for their child. It is available in multiple languages through local schools district or DOE’s Web site.
RA: Related Arts, “Specials” In Bragg School we have 8 RA classes: Art, Computer Applications, Health, Media (Library), Music, Physical Education, STEM and World Language (Spanish). Art, Health, Music, PE, and Computer Applications/STEM are attended on a 5 day rotation, while Library and Spanish are attended every 6 days. Furthermore, Computer Applications and STEM are on a 2 week rotation (2 weeks of CA, 2 weeks of STEM).
SGO: A Student Growth Objective is a long-term academic goal that teachers set for groups of students and must be specific and measurable, aligned to New Jersey’s curriculum standards, based on available prior student learning data, a measure of student learning between two points in time. These are set annually.
SGP: Student Growth Percentiles - applicable to 4th-8th grade language arts literacy (LAL) and math teachers (and administration) only – are state-calculated scores that can be used to measure an individual student's (or group of students') growth from one year to the next on the PARCC.
SRI (HRI): Scholastic Reading Inventory – “is a reading assessment program which provides immediate, actionable data on students' reading levels and growth over time. SRI is a research-based, computer-adaptive reading assessment program for students in Grades K–12 that measures reading comprehension on the Lexile Framework® for Reading.”
(from http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/sri_reading_assessment/index.htm)
The SRI is administered to all students, grades 1 – 5, four times through the year.
STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
Title I: According to the U.S. Department of Education, Title 1 is the nation’s oldest and largest federally funded program. Annually, it provides over $7 billion to school systems across the country for students at risk of failure and living at or near poverty. Chester has qualified to receive Title 1 funding based on a federal formula and percentage of students receiving Free and Reduced School Lunch. The funding is used to provide services for any student who is in need of academic assistance as determined by criteria set by the Consultation Committee. Title 1 students are offered support in Reading. These services are provided during ILA class in a small group setting within the classroom.