GTET 1 key terms

Ongoing checks of student understanding during instruction, used to adjust teaching in real time rather than to assign a grade. Examples include exit tickets, quick quizzes, and questioning.

A measurement of learning at the end of a unit, course, or term, used to report achievement. It is typically graded and compared against a standard or benchmark.

The practice of collecting student performance evidence, analyzing patterns, and changing teaching plans in response. Decisions rest on observed evidence rather than assumption or habit.

Breaking aggregate test or performance results into subgroups such as grade level, language status, or disability category, so that hidden gaps between groups become visible to teachers and leaders.

Frequent, brief measurement of a student's growth toward a specific goal, often weekly or biweekly, used to judge whether an intervention is working and should continue or change.

A scoring guide that lists criteria for a performance task and describes levels of quality for each criterion, making expectations transparent and grading more consistent across students and raters.

An evaluation in which students demonstrate skills by producing a product or carrying out a task, such as a lab investigation, portfolio, or presentation, rather than answering selected-response items.

Measurement using tasks that mirror real-world application of knowledge, such as writing a letter to a public official or diagnosing a simulated fault, so results reflect transferable capability.

A commercially or state-produced test administered and scored under uniform conditions so that scores can be compared across students, schools, and years. Results often inform accountability reporting.

A score interpreted by comparing a student to a reference group, as with percentile ranks or grade equivalents. It shows relative standing, not mastery of specific content standards.

A score interpreted against a fixed standard or set of learning objectives rather than against other test takers. It answers whether the student can do the specified things.

A persistent difference in average academic outcomes between groups of students, often defined by income, race, language background, or disability status. It is measured and discussed using disaggregated data.

Differences in access to qualified teachers, rigorous courses, materials, and enriching experiences that help explain later differences in achievement among student groups.

Fair treatment that allocates support according to students' differing needs, so that outcomes are not predicted by background. It differs from identical treatment of every student.

A distinction between giving every student the same resources and giving each student what is needed to reach the same standard. Teachers must recognize when sameness perpetuates disadvantage.

Planning lessons so that content, process, product, or environment vary with students' readiness, interests, and learning profiles, while all students work toward the same essential standards.

Proactively designing curriculum with multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression so that diverse learners can access content without after-the-fact accommodations being bolted on.

Temporary support such as models, prompts, graphic organizers, or guided practice that helps a student complete a task beyond current independent ability, then is gradually withdrawn as competence grows.

The range of tasks a learner can complete with assistance but not yet alone. Instruction is most productive when pitched inside this range rather than at what is already mastered.

A lesson sequence moving from teacher modeling, to guided practice with feedback, to collaborative work, to independent application, transferring cognitive work progressively to students.

Explicit, teacher-led teaching of clearly stated objectives through modeling, guided practice, and checking for understanding. It is especially effective for foundational skills and novices.

A specific, observable statement of what students should know or be able to do by the end of a lesson or unit, usually naming a measurable action and the conditions for performance.

Planning that starts from desired results and acceptable evidence before choosing activities, ensuring that instruction and assessment align with the stated learning goals rather than merely filling class time.

The match among standards, learning objectives, instructional activities, and assessment items. Misalignment produces tests that measure something other than what was taught.

A planning grid that maps test items to content topics and cognitive demand levels, helping teachers build assessments that sample the domain proportionally and avoid over-weighting recall.

A document guiding assessment construction by specifying the content areas, item types, cognitive levels, and weightings the test should contain, so that coverage is deliberate rather than incidental.

Deliberate, frequent verification during a lesson that students are following, using techniques like cold calling, whiteboards, or hinge questions, so misconceptions surface before independent practice.

A cycle in which performance information returns to the learner and teacher and produces a concrete next step. Effective loops are timely, specific, and actionable rather than merely evaluative.

Comments that describe what was done well and what to improve next, tied to criteria, rather than a grade or vague praise. It supports revision and self-regulation.

Students' awareness and regulation of their own thinking, including planning an approach, monitoring comprehension, and adjusting strategies when something is not working.

A cycle in which learners set goals, apply strategies, monitor progress, and reflect on results. Classrooms can teach this cycle explicitly through goal setting and structured reflection.

A multi-tiered framework that screens all students, provides increasingly intensive research-based interventions based on measured need, and monitors response to decide whether support continues or deepens.

A layered system of academic and behavioral supports, from universal instruction for all, through targeted small-group help, to intensive individualized services, with data guiding movement between tiers.

A legally required written plan for a student eligible for special education, specifying present levels, measurable annual goals, services, accommodations, and placement, developed by a team including parents.

A change in how a student accesses instruction or demonstrates learning, such as extended time or a read-aloud, without altering the content standard or expected level of mastery.

An adjustment that changes the content, expectations, or performance standard a student must meet, such as reducing the number of concepts or using simpler text, thereby altering what is being taught.

The legal principle that students with disabilities are educated alongside peers without disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate, with removal only when supplementary supports cannot meet their needs.

Placing students with disabilities in general education classrooms with appropriate supports and genuine membership in the school community, rather than merely physical presence without participation.

Instruction that uses students' cultural knowledge, references, and experiences as resources for learning, while holding high expectations and examining how school practices may exclude some groups.

A student acquiring English while learning academic content in it. Instruction should integrate language development with subject matter and provide appropriate scaffolds and legal language services.

A schoolwide framework that teaches behavioral expectations explicitly, acknowledges appropriate conduct, and uses data to target increasingly intensive supports for students who need them.

Approaches to misbehavior that focus on repairing harm, understanding impact, and restoring relationships through dialogue and community circles, rather than solely on punishment or exclusion.

The organization of routines, expectations, physical space, and relationships so that instructional time is protected and students can work productively with minimal disruption.

The degree to which students invest attention, effort, and interest in learning tasks. It can be behavioral, emotional, or cognitive, and is influenced by task design and relationships.

Extended inquiry in which students investigate a complex, authentic question and produce a public product, integrating content and skills across a sustained sequence of lessons.

A team of educators who meet regularly to examine evidence of student learning, share practice, and adjust instruction collaboratively, with collective responsibility for results.

Systematically reviewing one's own teaching decisions and their effects, often through journals, video, or lesson analysis, to identify what to keep and what to change.

Job-embedded professional support in which a coach observes, models, and gives feedback to a teacher, usually through cycles of goal setting, practice, and review focused on student outcomes.

The profession's written standards of conduct covering honesty, confidentiality, appropriate relationships with students, fairness, and reporting of harm. Violations can lead to disciplinary action.

The legal duty of educators to report suspected child abuse, neglect, or self-harm risk to designated authorities promptly, regardless of internal school hierarchy or personal discomfort.

The obligation to protect student records and personal information, sharing them only with those who have a legitimate educational need, as permitted by law and district policy.

Appropriate limits in relationships with students, families, and colleagues that protect students and preserve trust, including avoiding favoritism, private contact, and dual roles.

Collaborative relationships in which educators communicate regularly with caregivers, invite input, and share decision-making about student learning, respecting family knowledge and cultural context.

Exchange in which information flows from school to home and from home to school, using accessible language and formats, rather than one-directional announcements from staff.