Glossary of Terms

Broad categories of skill that cut across all of the academic subject areas and that will be essential for student success regardless of what career, military, or higher education path they take after high school. The Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction defines the cross-cutting skills with these 21st Century Leadership Skills. The Washington State Board of Education Profile of A Graduate also lists transferable skills.

[ CCDEI ]

knowledge of student cultural histories and contexts, as well as family norms and values in different cultures; knowledge and skills in accessing community resources and community and parent outreach; and skills in adapting instruction to students' experiences and identifying cultural contexts for individual students. Cultural Competency is one of three key pillars of culturally responsive-sustaining education (CRSE) as originally named by Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings.

NY State Department of Education’s framework for CRSE states that  - “Culturally responsive-sustaining education is grounded in a cultural view of learning and human development in which multiple expressions of diversity (e.g., race, social class, gender, language, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, ability) are recognized and regarded as assets for teaching and learning. CRSE explores the relationship between historical and contemporary conditions of inequality and ideas that shape access, participation, and outcomes for learners.” For more, please see New York State’s Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education Framework and Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings article, “But That’s Just Good Teaching!” 

The Mastery-based Learning Collaborative (MBLC) uses three pillars of CRSE originally named by Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings: 

• Pillar 1: Student Learning/Academic Success - All learners are capable of academic success and must experience academic success.

• Pillar 2: Cultural Competency - Students must develop and/or maintain cultural competency, the ability to understand their own and others’ racial/cultural/social identities, and the ability to work effectively with others who are not like themselves.

• Pillar 3: Critical Consciousness - Students must develop a critical/sociopolitical consciousness through which they challenge the status quo of the current social order.

[ CCDEI ]

The presence of similarities and differences within a given setting, collective, or group based on multiple factors including race and ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, age, educational status, religion, geography, primary language, culture, and other characteristics and experiences.

[ CCDEI ]

Developing, strengthening, and supporting procedural and outcome fairness in systems, procedures, and resource distribution mechanisms to create equitable opportunities for all individuals. The term also includes eliminating barriers that prevent the full participation of individuals and groups. The MBLC holds educational equity as a guiding value, and learner-centered, culturally responsive-sustaining mastery-based learning as a powerful strategy in reaching educational equity. 

 Sets of closely linked skills and knowledge which are recorded as one category in the teacher’s gradebook.  These Learning Outcomes will be reported out on the student’s progress reports and report card. Also called competencies, proficiencies, goals, or objectives, learning outcomes state the key skills and knowledge learners must demonstrate to achieve proficiency/mastery. 

Outcomes 

• are the basis for all teaching, learning, coaching, and assessment. 

• align to/support a school’s vision and philosophy, relevant standards, and supporting habits/skills.

• are relevant to learners and designed to prepare them meaningfully for postsecondary life.

• offer a useful level of specificity: manageable, focused, and deserving of sustained attention.

• may include smaller component skills or knowledge that are often called Learning Targets

Mastery-based learning (WA State Definition) *

• Students advance upon demonstrated mastery of content; 

• Competencies include explicit, measurable, transferable learning objectives that empower students; 

• Assessments are meaningful and a positive learning experience for students; 

• Students receive rapid, differentiated support based on their individual learning needs; and 

• Learning outcomes emphasize competencies that include application and creation of knowledge along with the development of important skills and dispositions.

https://www.sbe.wa.gov/our-work/mastery-based-learning

*In other states, this same set of approaches may be called “competency-based learning” or “proficiency-based learning.”

A student portfolio is a compilation of academic work and other forms of educational evidence assembled for the purpose of (1) evaluating coursework quality, learning progress, and academic achievement; (2) determining whether students have met learning outcomes or other academic requirements for courses, grade-level promotion, and graduation; (3) helping students reflect on their academic goals and progress as learners; and (4) creating a lasting archive of academic work products, accomplishments, and other documentation. Advocates of student portfolios argue that compiling, reviewing, and evaluating student work over time can provide a richer, deeper, and more accurate picture of what students have learned and are able to do than more traditional measures—such as standardized tests, quizzes, or final exams—that only measure what students know at a specific point in time.

Portfolios come in many forms, from notebooks filled with documents, notes, and graphics to online digital archives and student-created websites, and they may be used at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Portfolios can be a physical collection of student work that includes materials such as written assignments, journal entries, completed tests, artwork, lab reports, physical projects (such as dioramas or models), and other material evidence of learning progress and academic accomplishment, including awards, honors, certifications, recommendations, written evaluations by teachers or peers, and self-reflections written by students.

In this approach, students engage in projects in order to practice and demonstrate their mastery of a set of learning outcomes, sometimes from several subjects. When engaged in project-based learning, students will typically use diverse skills—such as researching, writing, interviewing, collaborating, or public speaking—to produce various work products, such as research papers, scientific studies, public-policy proposals, multimedia presentations, video documentaries, art installations, or musical and theatrical performances.  Closely related to the concept of authentic learning, project-based learning experiences are often designed to address real-world problems and issues, which requires students to investigate and analyze their complexities, interconnections, and ambiguities. The project may be designed either by the teacher or by the students, but it is essential that the final products produced by students align with the learning outcomes.