Dear teacher,
Please help me understand some educational acronyms so that I know what the teachers are talking about.
Dear parent,
It always helps to understand what your children’s teachers are saying. Whenever a teacher uses an acronym that you don’t understand, simply ask for an explanation. Here are a few acronyms that might be helpful for you to know that are commonly used in elementary and middle school:
ADA — (Average Daily Attendance) is determined by dividing the total days of instruction by the total days of student attendance. It is used as the basis for distributing state school revenue.
AYP — (Adequate Yearly Progress) a measure under No Child Left Behind to see if states are meeting proficiency goals in reading and math.
ESL — (English as a Second Language) a program giving special instructions to children who are learning English.
G&T — (Gifted and Talented) a variety of programs that support the needs of exceptional children through accelerated, rigorous, and specialized instruction.
IQ — (Intelligence Quotient) a number representing a student’s intelligence based on the score of a special test.
LEA — (Local Education Agency) your local school system or county.
NAEP — (National Assessment of Educational Progress) nicknamed the “Nation’s Report Card,” it compares the achievement of students in different states in various subject areas.
NCLB — (No Child Left Behind) a federal law that holds primary and secondary schools accountable to higher standards.
PTA and PTO — (Parent Teacher Association and Parent Teacher Organization) parent-teacher groups with the goal of helping and improving an individual school, especially through parental involvement.
RTI — (Response to Instruction) a three-tiered system of identifying students’ needs and supplying the appropriate help.
STEM — (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) a focus on skills needed to succeed in today’s world with the goal of interesting young students in these subjects at an early age.
Title 1 — A program that provides federal funding to schools that have low poverty levels. The funding is meant to help students who are at risk of falling behind academically.
USED — (United States Education Department) provides federal assistance to state and local agencies, establishes policies related to federal education funds, administers distribution of these funds, collects data and oversees research on America’s schools and identifies major issues in education.
Finding a time to talk to teachers
Dear teacher,
Both my husband and I work long, long hours at jobs where we can never get away for conferences with our children’s teachers. Do you have any suggestions about ways that we can talk to their teachers?
Dear parent,
Talking with your children’s teachers is very important. When it is simply impossible to visit with them in person, the best alternative is to talk on the phone. Use e-mail or the school website to contact the teachers to arrange a convenient time to talk to them. It might even be possible to use Skype, so the conversation will seem more personal, as you are looking at each other.
Also, if you attend school events in the evenings, you may find it possible to communicate ahead of time with teachers and arrange a time to meet before or after an event. Another possibility is trying to arrange time before school starts to come in early and talk to teachers.
When you have immediate questions that need answering, email is often the best way to get the answers you need.
Signs of early reading problems
Dear teacher,
What are the signs of a reading problem in the early years?
Dear parent,
Here are some warning signs that your child might have a reading problem:
Preschool:
• Doesn’t know how to hold a book.
• Can’t tell the difference between letters and squiggles.
• Can’t recognize own name.
• Only says a small number of words.
• Doesn’t like rhyming games and can’t fill in the rhyming word in familiar nursery rhymes.
Kindergarten:
• Can’t tell the difference between the sounds that make up a word (phonics).
• Slow to name familiar objects and colors.
• Can’t remember the names and sounds of the letters.
• By the end of kindergarten, can’t write most of the consonant sounds in a word. (It’s normal for vowels to be missing until later.)
First and second grades:
• Has trouble pronouncing new words and remembering them.
• Has trouble blending sounds together to say words.
• Says reading is easier for her classmates.
• Falls way behind classmates.
• Can’t figure out unknown words.
• Avoids reading.
• Resists reading aloud.
Second and third grades:
• Starts to withdraw.
• Has some troubling behavior.
• Seems to guess at unknown words.
• Does not get meaning from reading.
These signs of a reading problem were provided by Kyla Boyse, registered nurse, of the University of Michigan Health System. Additional information can be found online at www.med.umich.edu/
Parents should send questions and comments to deart
Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
