This week I heard several educators and parents mention the strange vocabulary being used in public schools these days. So I got out the vocabulary list I’ve been collecting for several years called The Strange New Education Vocabulary List. Many of these words come from business or the military and seem strangely cold in reference to schools and teaching. Some of the words might be appropriate—if used in the right context. “Formative,” for example, used to relate to teacher-like assessment but now means something much more in line with high-stakes testing. I think each word or phrase shows how education is depicted today very differently than in the past. Some word usage is frightening…I’m thinking surveillance. I have a couple organizations added for good measure (no pun intended). If you are a vocabulary fanatic like me and have some more words to add—feel free to let me know….
Academic goals
Accelerated
Accelerated reading
Accountable
Accountability
Activating
Advance organizer
Advanced placement
Achieve
Achievement
Achievement gap
Align
Alignment
Application
At-risk
Analyze
Assistive technology
Basal alignment
Blended learning
Benchmark
Best practices
Building blocks
Bully
Checklists
CEO
Certificate
Clarity
Coach
Coherence
College career
College ready
Complex information
Commitment
Common Core State Standards
Complexity
Compliance
Computer
Concrete examples
Consequence
Conventionality
Core
Core beliefs
Core knowledge
Corporate
Criterion
Critical analysis
Critical thinking
Customer service
Data class
Data-driven
Data mining
Deep understanding
Deeper learning
Demonstrate
Developmental Delay
Differentiate
Defiant children
Digitized
Disruption
Disparities in funding
Dual intensity
Dynamic Indicators
Early Learning Challenge
Educating the Whole Child
Education enterprise
Education industry
Education sector
Education Trust
Educational reform
Enriched
Enterprise
Entrepreneur
Edupreneur
Excellence for All
Explanatory text
Executives
External sources
Evidence-based
Facilitate
Facilitator
Fail
Failed
Failing
Failure is not an option
Fast-track
Fluency
Focus
Formative
Framework
Freedom is
Fully prepared
Functional goals
Gap
Global
Global Competitor
Global Economy
Government schools
Grade band
Grade band ranges
Graphic organizers
Healthy school
High achievement
High cohesion text
High expectation
Higher performance
Highly qualified
Hyperbolic claims
Implementation
Improvement
inBloom
Informational text
Infuse
Interdisciplinary
Key points
Leading
Learning cottages
Learning progressions
Lock down
Low expectation
Manage
Management
Mapping
Marketplace
Measure
Measurement
Media Center
Media Specialist
Memorize
Memorization
Memory
Monitoring
Most effective models
Natural learning systems
New Leaders for New Schools
No Child Left Behind
No excuses
Oppositional children
Outcome-based instruction
Peace Officers
Perfection learning
Performance indicators
Performance tasks
Personalizing
Pillars
Pipeline
Prevention
Product descriptors
Productivity
Professional learning
Protocol
Practical
Prepare
Private sector
Public sector
Qualitative dimensions
Quality indicators
Quantitative dimensions
Race to the Top
Radical
Reading First
Recording observations
Reflective assessment
Regrettably
Renaissance learning
Repetition
Respect
Response
Response to Intervention
Resource Officers
Results
Reviewers
Rewards and Sanctions
Programming comprehensive
Rigorous or rigor
Rote learning
Rubric
Scaffolding
School-to-prison-pipeline
Shape instruction
Scientifically-based
Shortchange
Short-cycle assessments
Simple graphics
Soft bigotry
Special populations
Spiraling
Stages
Staircase
Standards-based growth
Stand for Children
Strategy
Structure
Sub-criterion
Systematic
Stakeholders
Status quo
Student-negotiated standards
Surveillance
Surveys
Teaching and learning
Teach for America
Teacher preparation
Teacher quality
Technology
Test savvy
Text complexity
Top performing
Top performing country
Twenty-first century skills
Universal preschool
Vision or visionary
Zero tolerance
Zone
It all seems very technical and medical.
Gone are the days of “Johnny seems to be having trouble in ___, but he loves ___!”
Maybe it’s a necessity because of the sheer volume of students? I don’t know.
It is a necessity because we have business people who think they know more about educating than educators. They think elementary children need to be taught like high school children.
Business words make a lot of sense with huge class sizes. It’s no wonder the issue of lowering class sizes is always disregarded.