MTLE Pedagogy: Secondary (Grades 5-12) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Zone of proximal development

Vygotsky's term for the range between what a learner can do independently and what the learner can do with guidance from a more capable other; instruction is most effective inside this range.

Scaffolding

Temporary, graduated support (models, prompts, partially worked examples) provided so a learner can complete a task beyond current independent ability; support is faded as competence increases.

Formal operational stage

Piaget's final stage, beginning around age 11, marked by abstract reasoning, hypothetical thinking, and systematic testing of possibilities; many secondary students still reason concretely with unfamiliar content.

Identity versus role confusion

Erikson's adolescent psychosocial stage in which the central task is forming a coherent sense of self through exploring roles, values, and competencies; failure yields uncertainty about self-definition.

Conventional moral reasoning

Kohlberg's middle level, in which judgments are based on social approval, maintaining relationships, and upholding laws and rules; typical of many adolescents and adults.

Operant conditioning

Skinner's principle that behavior changes according to consequences: reinforcement increases a behavior, punishment decreases it, and schedules of delivery affect persistence and rate.

Metacognition

Awareness and regulation of one's own thinking, comprising planning before a task, monitoring comprehension during it, and evaluating results afterward to adjust strategies.

Cognitive load

The demand placed on limited working memory by a task; instruction reduces overload by chunking information, removing extraneous detail, and connecting new content to prior knowledge.

Backward design

Planning sequence that starts with desired results from standards, then identifies acceptable evidence of learning, and only then designs learning experiences and instruction aligned to both.

Measurable learning objective

A statement of intended learning containing an observable behavior, the conditions under which it occurs, and a performance criterion, allowing later assessment to be aligned and defensible.

Bloom's revised taxonomy

Six cognitive levels ordered from lower to higher: remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create; objectives and questions should match the intended level of demand.

Gradual release of responsibility

Instructional sequence moving from teacher modeling, to guided practice with feedback, to collaborative practice, to independent application, shifting cognitive work progressively to students.

Differentiation

Proactive adjustment of content, process, product, or environment based on student readiness, interest, and learning profile, while holding the same essential learning standard for all.

Wait time

Pause of roughly three to five seconds after posing a question and after a student response; longer wait time is associated with longer, more elaborated, and more frequent answers.

Universal Design for Learning

Framework recommending multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression so that curriculum is accessible to varied learners by design rather than by retrofit.

Individual accountability

Cooperative learning condition in which each group member is responsible for demonstrating mastery, preventing social loafing and ensuring group work produces individual learning.

Higher-order questioning

Questions requiring analysis, evaluation, or creation rather than recall; they should constitute a substantial share of discussion prompts to develop reasoning.

Formative assessment

Ongoing, typically low-stakes evidence gathered during instruction to identify misconceptions and adjust teaching; results inform next steps rather than certify final achievement.

Summative assessment

Assessment administered after instruction to judge achievement against standards, often for grading or reporting; it summarizes learning rather than guiding immediate instructional adjustment.

Validity

The degree to which an assessment and its interpretations measure the intended construct and support the intended use; it is threatened by construct-irrelevant content and bias.

Reliability

Consistency of assessment results across occasions, forms, or raters; necessary for valid interpretation but not sufficient, because a test can be consistent and consistently measure the wrong thing.

Standard error of measurement

An index of score inconsistency in the same units as the test; a reported score is best interpreted as a band of roughly one standard error above and below.

Criterion-referenced score

A score interpreted by comparison to a defined performance standard or set of skills, indicating what a student can do rather than position relative to other test takers.

Norm-referenced score

A score interpreted by comparison to a reference group, such as percentile rank or stanine, indicating relative standing rather than mastery of specific content standards.

Item difficulty

The proportion of examinees answering an item correctly, symbolized p; very high or very low values limit an item's usefulness for discriminating among students.

Analytic rubric

Scoring tool that lists separate criteria, each with performance-level descriptors, and scores them independently; it provides detailed diagnostic feedback and supports inter-rater agreement.

FERPA

Federal law protecting education records; grades, discipline records, and special education documents are confidential, and directory information release requires stated conditions and notice.

Mandated reporting

Legal duty of educators to report suspected child abuse or neglect to the designated authority, usually within a state-specified time; notifying an administrator does not fulfill the duty.

Section 504 plan

Accommodation plan under Section 504 for a student with a disability affecting a major life activity; it provides access and supports without specialized instruction under IDEA.

IEP

Individualized Education Program under IDEA specifying present levels, measurable goals, services, accommodations, and placement for a student eligible for special education.

Positive interdependence

Cooperative learning condition in which group members depend on one another to succeed, such as shared resources or complementary roles, promoting mutual support and participation.

Professional learning community

Collaborative team of educators using a recurring cycle of common assessments, analysis of student work, instructional adjustment, and re-teaching to improve outcomes.