ESSA: Refers to the Every Student Succeeds Act, which was made law in 2015 and replaced the No Child Left Behind Act. Requires that students receive standardized tests in school regularly to monitor progress. Per ESSA, only 1% of students (those that are severely cognitively impaired) are allowed an alternate form of these standardized tests, and each state defines what students will make up this 1% independently.

FAPE: "Free and Appropriate Public Education." Per Part A of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, every school-aged child in the United States of America is entitled to one of these. An "appropriate" public education is one that places a student in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE, see below) academically wherein, with reasonable support(s) as needed, they are able to learn at pace with the majority of students in their classroom unit.

IDEA: Refers to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004. The most recent iteration of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) of 1975. Prescribes that all children in the United States have the right to a FAPE in the LRE. Also sets forth rules for IEP implementation.

IEP: "Individualized Education Program." Should a student qualify for special education services under IDEA (see above), this document outlines how they qualify and their school's plan for delivering services, accommodations, and modifications to ensure that they receive a FAPE in the LRE (see above). The IEP document is reviewed and revised yearly (at minimum) in a meeting at which school personnel and district representatives, parent(s) or caregiver(s), teacher(s) and any service providers are present.

LRE: "Least Restrictive Environment." Per IDEA, all children in the United States have the right to a FAPE in this type of environment. This entails placing a child in general education and inclusive classrooms to the extent possible, and providing as few supports as needed whereby said child is still able to learn and thrive.

MTSS: "Multi-Tiered System of Supports." A framework for providing supports to students based on their level(s) of need. Three tiers: Tier 1 students typically require the least amount of support, Tier 3 students typically require the most support and most individualized attention. Focuses not only on delivery of instruction in the classroom, but on all services delivered school-wide (e.g., speech and language therapy, psychological services, etc.). The focus of MTSS is on prevention of difficulties encountered at school and of problematic behaviors, not remediation. Stresses the importance of evidence-based practice.

RTI: "Response to Intervention." The process whereby educators use student performance data in the general education classroom to determine whether a certain level of support best suits a student, or whether that student requires more or less support. Helps to best match supports given in the general education classroom to a given student's level(s) of need. The focus during this process is on remediation, not prevention of difficulties encountered at school. Sometimes referred to as academically-based MTSS (see above).