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Acronyms & Abbrev. Used in HISD

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
  Acronym Stands For Used By/For
A      
  ACP Alternative Certification Program A program for certifying as educators people who desire to enter the profession without first earning an education degree. Teachers certifying through ACP must still meet the certification standards of SBEC. A number of different organizations, including HISD, offer alternative certification programs.
  AIP Accelerated Instruction Plan The plan developed by the GPC and parent(s) for students who have not performed satisfactorily on TAKS to ensure successful mastery of the curriculum
  AMI Accelerated Math Instruction Part of the SSI, this state-funded program aims to accelerate math instruction for students at risk of failing the math TAKS.
  AP Advanced Placement Courses that teach the curriculum tested by AP exams, Successful results on the exam can, at certain colleges or universities, translate to credits.
  Assistant Principal An administrative position at some schools. Known in some other districts as a vice-principal.
  ARD Admission, Review, and Dismissal An ARD Committee must meet to make decisions that impact students with special needs. [see explanation]
  ARI Accelerated Reading Instruction Part of the SSI, this state-funded program aims to accelerate reading instruction for students at risk of failing the readingTAKS. (Frequently referred to as Accelerated Reading Intervention.)
  AYP Adequate Yearly Progress The measurement and accountability system for NCLB.
B      
  BDC Backup Domain Controller Schools each have a server on the network that is named xxx-BDC, where xxx is the school name or a representation thereof
C      
  CATE Career And Technology Education See CTE
  CIT Campus Improvement Team TEA team for schools that were acadmically unacceptable in the previous year [more common form of SCIT]
  CLEAR TBD HISD's curriculum, available online to all HISD educators
  Comp. Ed. Compensatory Education State funded assistance for students formally identified as at-risk (of failure to graduate).
  CR The Central Region One of five administrative regions in HISD
  CRO The Central Region Office The office of the Central Region (CR)
  CTE Career & Technology Education A federally funded program to teach vocational education. Previously called CATE.
D      
  DBP Developmental Bilingual Program The bilingual education program whose aim is to allow students to fully develop their native language abilities before transitioning to English. The goal is that students end up bilingual and biliteral.
  DM District Monitor Staff members who monitor TAKS test administrations at schools. Formerly known as DOMs (District Office Monitor) and COMs (Central Office Monitor)
E      
  ED Economically Disadvantaged Students who come from a home where the household income is at a level that qualifies them to receive either a free or reduced cost lunch.
  Emotionally Disturbed Students who are identified as having a pattern of behavior and/or illness that indicates they are emotionally disturbed.
  ELL English Language Learners Students whose native language is not English and who are still not academically literate in English. These students normally receive support services. [See also ESL and LEP]
  EOC End-Of-Course A course-specific exam administered by TEA
  ESL English as a Second Language A program for students whose native language is not English and who are still not academically literate in English. [See also ELL and LEP]
  ExCET Examination for Certification of Educators in Texas One of the instruments used by SBEC to certify teachers. [See also TExES]
F      
  FIP Focused Improvement Plan A plan, required to be prepared annually by schools that were rated academically unacceptable by TEA in the previous year, identifying specific, measurable goals for the school that address the areas for which the school was unacceptable and outlining how the school will meet those goals. Outside of HISD, this is also known as a SIP (School Improvement Plan).
  FSLA Fair Standards Labor Act Federal law that regulates pay and work conditions. All HISD employees are exempt or non-exempt from the provisions of the law.
G      
  G/T Gifted and/or Talented Program for students who are identified as academically gifted.
  GPC Grade Placement Committee A campus-based group of educators that has the final say in most promotion/retention decisions. [see also AIP]
H      
  HAPG Horizontal Alignment and Planning Guide Part of HISD's CLEAR - a scope and sequence for the curriculum
  HISD Houston Independent School District Also referred to as Houston ISD
  HMW Hattie Mae White The administrative headquarters of HISD located at 4400 West 18th Street, hence also known, informally, as the 4400 Center.
I      
  IEP Individualized Education Program Part of the required plan for students identified as having special needs. The IEP lays out the curriculum expectations and the modifications needed to ensure success.
  ISD Independent School District Term used throughout Texas for the form of government used to organize and run public school systems
J      
  JAQ Job Analysis Questionnaire A sytem used to decide pay and exempt/non-exempt status for newly created positions
L      
  LAN Local Area Network The computer network within HISD facilities (from the servers to the drop) [see also WAN]
  LAT Linguistically Accommodated Testing Testing for students who are LEP-exempt from the regular TAKS test. [see also LSG]
  LD Learning Disabled Students who are tested and identified as having a learning disability.
  LEP Limited English Proficient Students whose native language is not English and who are still not academically literate in English. These students normally receive support services. [See also ELL and ESL]
  LPAC Language Proficiency Assessment Committee A campus-based committee of educators and a parent who determine the optimal placement for LEP students. It reviews, at least annually, the progress of LEP students.
  LRE Least Restrictive Environment Federal law mandates that special needs students be served in the least restrictive environment appropriate to their needs. The intention is to avoid special education students from being isolated from their regular education peers if there is no educational purpose served in that separation.
  LSG Linguistic Simplification Guides Used to help educators more effectively assist students as part of LAT
M      
  MPDAS Modified Professional Development and Appraisal System A modified version of PDAS optionally available to educators who meet certain criteria.
N      
  NCLB No Child Left Behind The suite of federal laws that relate to educational expectations imposed on states who wish to receive federal funds for public education. Informally called "nickleby."
P      
  PASS (Something? Something?) Student Success HISD-developed software intended to allow teachers and administrators to view information on students, including grades and test results.
  PDAS Professional Development and Appraisal System The manner and instruments through which educators are assessed on an ongoing basis.
  PDF Portable Document Format An electronic file that can be read with Adobe Acrobat that perserves the original formatting of the document.
  PDS Professional Development Services The central department that provides professional development for schools and others
  PEIMS Public Education Information Management System TEA's way to capture and organize student data from all public schools in Texas. The data collected drives funding and accountability for public schools.
R      
  RPTE Reading Proficiency Tests in English An annual test administered by TEA to all LEP students who are not testing with TAKS.
S      
  SAP SAP The software used to handle most financial transactions in HISD. SAP used to originally stand for Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing but the acronym is now used as a name.
  SBEC State Board for Educator Certification The state organization responsible for certifying and maintaining records of educator professional qualifications.
  SCIT Special Campus Improvement Team TEA team for schools that were acadmically unacceptable in the previous year [See also CIT]
  SDAA or
SDAA II 		State-Developed Alternative Assessment The tests administered by TEA to assess LD students for whom the TAKS is not an appropriate assessment vehicle. In 2005 the tests were revamped and made more rigorous (hence SDAA II).
  SIP School Improvement Plan A plan, required to be prepared annually, identifying specific, measurable goals for the school and outlining how the school will meet its goals. Outside of HISD, this is widely known as a CIT (Campus Improvement Plan).
  Sp. Ed. Special Education The academic support services for students with special needs
  SSI Student Success Initiative A state program to support students in reading and math. The program is targeted at students either at risk of failing or who have failed the reading or math TAKS.
T      
  TAKS Texas Assessment of Knowledge & Skills The test administered by the TEA to evaluate students' grasp of the state' proscribed curriculum (TEKS) <http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/index.html>
  TEA Texas Education Agency Used state-wide. <http://www.tea.state.tx.us/>
  TEKS Texas Assessment of Knowledge & Skills The state designed curriculum tested with TAKS tests <http://www.tea.state.tx.us/teks/index.html>
  TExES Texas Examinations of Educator Standards One of the instruments used by SBEC to certify teachers. [See also ExCET]
  TPRI Texas Primary Reading Inventory State-administered English language reading assessment for kindergarten through 2nd grade. The Spanish version is the Tejas-LEE
V      
  VAM Vertical Alignment Matrix Part of HISD's CLEAR - developmental mapping of the curriculum
W      
  WAN Wide Area Network The computer network connecting HISD facilities and the central servers [see also LAN]
       

 

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