Terminology & Definitions

Terminology & Definitions:

Baseline Data: the data that is collected before an intervention or program change begins 

Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP): developed and implemented by a collaborative team, which includes the student and the parent. The plan includes positive behavioral interventions and supports, identified skills for school success, and specific strategies for behavioral instruction. 

Benchmark Assessment: an assessment given to all students periodically throughout the school year at specified times to evaluate students’ knowledge and skills relative to an explicit set of longer-term learning goals. 

Check-in/Check-out (CICO): A Tier 2 intervention strategy that provides a structured daily opportunity for a student to meet with a teacher coach/mentor first thing in the morning to set goals for the day. As the student progresses through the school day, the classroom teachers will evaluate behavior and assign points for meeting the daily goals. At the end of the day, the student checks out with the same staff member they began the day with, assessing their points and acheivement towards the goals. There will be daily communication home about the students points.

Core Instruction: refers to general academic and behavior instruction and support that is designed and differentiated for all students in all settings

Curriculum-Based Assessment: is an evaluation process that makes use of academic content selected directly from the material taught.   

Data-Based Decision Making: analyzing relevant data to student performance and problem-solving through team meetings to make decisions about instruction, intervention, and implementation. Relevant data may include universal screener data, historic academic and behavioral performance data, observational data, to better understand root cause of students’ barriers to learning at their fullest potential. 

Diagnostic Assessment: used to diagnose strengths and areas of need in students. Diagnostic assessment involves gathering and carefully evaluating detailed data involving students’ knowledge and skills in a given learning area. 

Differentiated Instruction: differentiated instruction is the way in which a teacher anticipates and responds to a variety of student needs in the classroom. 

Evidence-Based/Research-Based: refers to scientific, research-based methods that have demonstrated substantial evidence of effectiveness through multiple outcome evaluations. In other words, programs, strategies, and assessments shown to have had positive outcomes. 

Executive Function: a set of skills that help a person get things done. These skills include the ability to manage your time, pay attention, plan and organize, remember details, and multi-task.

Formative Assessment: assessments used by teachers and students during instructional time that provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching and learning to improve students’ achievements of intended instructional outcomes. 

Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA): the process used to identify problem behavior, determine the function or purpose of behavior, and develop interventions to teach acceptable alternatives for the behavior. 

Gap Analysis: a method for measuring the difference between the student's current level of performance and benchmark expectations 

Intervention:  the systematic and explicit instruction provided to accelerate growth in an area of identified need. This instruction is designed to improve performance relative to specific, measurable goals. 

Percentile Rank: indicates how well a student performed in comparison to the students in the specific norm group  

Progress Monitoring: the ongoing assessment conducted for the purpose of guiding instruction, monitoring student progress, and evaluating instruction/intervention effectiveness. 

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL): the curriculum and/or strategies taught are specifically designed to develop the skillset for understanding, identifying, and regulating emotions, problem-solving, and developing healthy relationships.  

Universal Screening: the process of assessing all students to identify individuals who are at risk or in need of more individualized support.