Presenting Our "Glossary of American Education"

Dear Readers,

As we've read through the articles and reports assigned for our class discussions, we've noticed that many of the authors mention various groups, business associations, foundations, coalitions etc. as they discuss issues in education. Many of the articles refer to these entitites in their discussion of American education, quote press and other releases from these entities, inlcuding statistical data, and essentially imply that these entities are the major players in the arena of education implementation, policy and reform. The articles, studies and reports are also replete with acronyms, such as PISA, NCTM, NCLB etc.

It seems to us that as active, critical thinkers and responsible members of society, we ought to know what these entitites and acronyms signify in the battle to safeguard the future of American education. As such, we've made an explanatory list of the entities and acronyms we've encountered in our class discussions, which we want to share with our readers. We, the students of the Honors Psych class at Temple University, have all agreed that knowledge of these think tanks and acronyms are essential to successful enegagement with the issues at hand. As such, we've compiled the following descriptive list:


N.B. The following list includes American as well as International entities.

• NCLB- Stands for No Child Left Behind, as contained in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. According to Wikipedia.com, "The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110), often abbreviated in print as NCLB, is a controversial United States federal law (Act of Congress) that reauthorized a number of federal programs aiming to improve the performance of U.S. primary and secondary schools by increasing the standards of accountability for states, school districts and schools, as well as providing parents more flexibility in choosing which schools their children will attend.

• AYP- Stands for Adequate Yearly Progress. According to Wikipedia.com, "Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, is a measurement defined by the United States federal No Child Left Behind Act [see definition above] that allows the U.S. Department of Education to determine how every public school and school district in the country is performing academically. AYP has been identified as one of the sources of controversy surrounding George W. Bush administration's Elementary and Secondary Education Act [see definition below]. Private schools do not have to make AYP."

• ESEA- Stands for Elementary and Secondary Education, as contained in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. According to Wikipedia.com, "The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) (Pub. L 89-10, 79 Stat. 77, 20 U.S.C. ch. 70) is a United States federal statute enacted April 11 1965. The Act is an extensive statute which funds primary and secondary education. As mandated in the Act, the funds are authorized for professional development, instructional materials, resources to support educational programs, and parental involvement promotion. The Act was originally authorized through 1970, however the government has reauthorized the Act every five years since its enactment". The NCLB Act re-authorised the ESEA Act.

• NAEP- Stands for National Assessment of Educational Progress and is also known as "The Nation's Report Card". According to Wikipedia.com, "The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as "the Nation's Report Card," is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. Since 1969, assessments have been conducted periodically in reading, mathematics, science, writing, U.S. history, civics, geography, and the arts".

• NAGB- Stands for National Assessment Governing Board. According to Wikipedia.com, "The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), appointed by the Secretary of Education but independent of the [U.S] Department [of Education], sets policy for NAEP [see definition above] and is responsible for developing the framework and test specifications that serve as the blueprint for the assessments. NAGB is a bipartisan group whose members include governors, state legislators, local and state school officials, educators, business representatives, and members of the general public. Congress created the 26-member Governing Board in 1988 thus allowing additional teaching areas to be formed".

• IES- Stands for Institute of Education Sciences. Accrding to Wikipedia.com, "The is the primary research arm of the United States Department of Education. It is the successor to the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI). The current (and first) director of IES is Grover Whitehurst, appointed in November 2002".

• NCES- Stands for National Center for Education Statistics. According to Wikipedia.com, "The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), as part of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) [see definition above], collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in the United States; conducts studies on international comparisons of education statistics; and provides leadership in developing and promoting the use of standardized terminology and definitions for the collection of those statistics."

• The Business Roundtable- According to Wikipedia.com, "The Business Roundtable is a prestigious group formed to promote pro-business public policy and made up only of chief executive officers of major U.S. corporations. It has considerably more direct influence over public policy in general and political initiatives than its allied business grouping, the Business Council. The group says it advocates "public policies that ensure vigorous economic growth, a dynamic global economy, and the well-trained and productive U.S. workforce. ... In general, the Roundtable focuses on issues it believes will have an effect on the economic well-being of the nation." A detailed description of the Business Roundtable's policies with regard to American education can be found at: http://www.businessroundtable.org/taskForces/taskforce/index.aspx?qs=14A5BF159F8

• Thomas B. Fordham Institute a.k.a. Thomas B. Fordham Foundation- According to Wikipedia.com, "The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation is a nonprofit education policy organization based in Washington, D.C., and Dayton, Ohio. Its stated mission is "to close America's vexing achievement gaps by raising standards, strengthening accountability, and expanding education options for parents and families." A detailed description of the Fordham Institute's policies with regard to American education can be found at: http://www.edexcellence.net/foundation/publication/index.cfm

• NCTM - Stands for National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. According to Wikipedia.com, "The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) was founded in 1920. It has grown to be the world's largest organization concerned with mathematics and education, having close to 100,000 members across the USA and Canada, and internationally." A detailed description of the NCTM's policies with regard to education can be found at: http://www.nctm.org/positionstatements.aspx?ekmensel=c580fa7b_8_460_btnlink

• TIMSS- Stands for Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. According to Wikipedia.com, "The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international assessment of the mathematics and science knowledge of fourth- and eighth-grade students around the world. TIMSS was developed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) [see definition below] to allow participating nations to compare students' educational achievement across borders. The IEA also conducts the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) [see definition below]."

• IEA- Stands for International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. According to Wikipedia.com, "The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) is an association of national research institutions and government research agencies related to education. The IEA is an independent organization. It was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Many policy-making decisions made in the field of education are influenced by IEA studies. The focus of the IEA is to conduct research studies of student performance in basic subjects such as math, science, and reading. The IEA studies measure performance between students of different countries and whether certain policies in a particular educational system cause positive or negative effects on learning."

• PIRLS- Stands for Progress in International Reading Literacy Study. According to Wikipedia.com, "The objective of the PIRLS is to study the trends in reading achievement in fourth graders from 35 different countries. PIRLS is a study conducted by the The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) [see definition above]. "It is designed to measure children’s reading literacy achievement, to provide a baseline for future studies of trends in achievement, and to gather information about children’s home and school experiences in learning to read.""

• PISA- Stands for Programme for International Student Assessment. According to Wikipedia.com, "The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a triennial world-wide test of 15-year-old schoolchildren's scholastic performance, the implementation of which is coordinated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).The aim of the PISA study is to test and compare schoolchildren's performance across the world, with a view to improving educational methods and outcomes."

• AP- Stands for Advanced Placement Program. According to Wikipedia.com, "The Advanced Placement Program is a program that offers college level courses at highschools across the Unites States and Canada. The College Board [see below], a non-profit organization which has run the AP program since 1955 develops and maintains college level courses in various subject areas. In addition, it supports teachers of AP courses, supports universities as they define their policies regarding AP grades, and develops and coordinates the administration of annual AP examinations. These activities are funded through fees charged to students taking AP Exams."

• The College Board- According to Wikipedia.com, "The College Board is a not-for-profit examination board in the United States that was formed in 1900 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB). It manages many different standardized tests which generally cater to individuals in the third or fourth year of high school planning on continuing their educations at a post-secondary level. The SAT [see definition below], the most well-known of these, is a test widely used for admission to universities in the United States."

• SAT- Originally stood for Scholastic Aptitide Test, but oficially is no longer an acronym. According to Wikipedia.com, "The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is administered by the College Board [see definition above] corporation, a non-profit organization in the United States and is developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service (ETS)." [see definition below]

• ETS- Stands for Educational Testing Service. According to Wikipedia.com, "The Educational Testing Service (or ETS) is the world's largest private educational testing and measurement organization, operating on an annual budget of approximately $1.1 billion on a proforma basis in 2007. ETS develops various standardized tests primarily in the United States for K-12 and higher education, but they also administer tests such as TOEFL [see definiton below] and GRE [see definition below] internationally. Many of the assessments they develop are associated with entry to US tertiary (undergraduate) and quaternary education (graduate) institutions."

• TOELF- Stands for Test of English as a Foreign Language. According to Wikipedia.com, "The Test of English as a Foreign Language (or TOEFL, pronounced "toe-full" or sometimes "toffle") evaluates the potential success of an individual to use and understand Standard American English at a college level. It is required for non-native applicants at many English-speaking colleges and universities. Additionally, institutions such as government agencies, businesses, or scholarship programs may require this test. A TOEFL score is valid for two years and then is deleted from the official database. Colleges and universities usually consider only the most recent score.The TOEFL test is a registered trademark of Educational testing Service (ETS) [see definition above] and is administered worldwide. The test was first administered 1964 and has since been taken by nearly 20 million students."

• GRE- Stands for Graduate Record Examination. According to Wikipedia.com, "The Graduate Record Examination or GRE is a standardized test that is an admissions requirement for many graduate schools principally in the United States, but also in other English speaking countries[citation needed]. Created and administered by the Education Testing Service (or ETS) [see definition above], the exam is primarily focused on testing abstract thinking skills in the areas of math, vocabulary, and analytical writing. The GRE is typically a computer-based exam that is administered by select qualified testing centers; however, paper-based exams are offered in areas of the world that lack the technological requirements. In the graduate school admissions process, the level of emphasis that is placed upon GRE scores varies widely between schools and even departments within schools. The importance of a GRE score can range from being the most important selection factor to being a mere admission formality."

• "A Nation at Risk"- According to Wikipedia.com, "A Nation at Risk: The Imperative For Educational Reform is the title of the 1983 report of American President Ronald Reagan's National Comission on Excellence in Education. Its publication is considered a landmark event in modern American educational history. Among other things, the report contributed to the ever-growing (and still present) sense that American schools are failing miserably, and it touched off a wave of local, state, and federal reform efforts".