It covers platform categories (SIS, LMS, school ERP), federal programs and law (ESSA, Title I, IDEA, FERPA), instructional structures (MTSS, RTI, IEP, 504), assessment terms, and AI vocabulary.
Platform categories
Student information system (SIS)
The system of record for student data: enrollment, demographics, scheduling, attendance, grades, discipline and transcripts. See student information system.
Management information system (MIS)
The UK term for what U.S. schools call an SIS. Functionally equivalent; the difference is regional vocabulary, which regularly confuses international procurement.
Learning management system (LMS)
Software for delivering and tracking instructional content: courses, materials, submissions, discussion and grading. An LMS is about instruction; an SIS is about records. Many districts run both and reconcile them by hand.
School ERP
Enterprise resource planning applied to schools — an SIS with substantial finance, procurement, inventory and HR capability. More common terminology outside the U.S.
LTI
Learning Tools Interoperability, the standard that lets an external tool integrate with an LMS or SIS with single sign-on and roster and grade passback. The practical reason a district can adopt a new instructional tool without replacing its system of record.
Governance and structure
LEA
Local Education Agency — a school district or equivalent local governing body.
SEA
State Education Agency — the state department of education.
CMO / EMO
Charter Management Organization or Education Management Organization — entities operating multiple charter schools.
Federal law and programs
ESSA
Every Student Succeeds Act, the federal K–12 accountability law, which requires disaggregated reporting and accountability by student subgroup. See ESSA reporting.
Title I
Federal funding to schools and districts with high concentrations of students from low-income families, with associated program and documentation requirements.
IDEA
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, governing special education services and adding confidentiality obligations around special education records.
FERPA
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, governing the privacy of student education records. See FERPA and student data privacy.
COPPA
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, governing collection of personal information from children under 13 by online services.
PPRA
Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, governing surveys and collection of protected information, with parental notice and consent rights.
Instruction and support
IEP
Individualized Education Program — the legally binding plan for a student receiving special education services under IDEA.
504 plan
A plan under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act providing accommodations for a student with a disability who does not require specialized instruction.
MTSS
Multi-Tiered System of Supports — a framework organizing academic and behavioral support into tiers of increasing intensity, with data determining movement between tiers. Requires standards-level data to work properly; a composite score cannot tell a team what to intervene on.
RTI
Response to Intervention — the academic-focused predecessor and component of MTSS.
English learner (EL)
A student identified as needing English language development support. ESSA requires reporting of English learner progress toward proficiency as an accountability indicator.
Differentiation
Adjusting instruction, task or support so students at different starting points can access the same standard.
Standards and curriculum
Common Core State Standards
Shared English language arts and mathematics standards adopted by many states, with several states having since revised or replaced them under their own names.
NGSS
Next Generation Science Standards, structured around performance expectations combining disciplinary core ideas, science practices and crosscutting concepts.
TEKS
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, the Texas state standards. See Texas.
B.E.S.T. Standards
Florida’s Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking. See Florida.
CTE
Career and Technical Education — programs of study aligned to career pathways, often with industry certification outcomes.
Assessment
Formative assessment
Assessment during learning that informs what happens next. Diagnostic, not certifying. A check that changes tomorrow’s lesson is formative; the same quiz recorded as a grade and never acted on is not.
Summative assessment
Assessment at the end of a period of learning that certifies attainment.
Interim / benchmark assessment
Periodic assessment through the year used to predict summative performance and target intervention.
Mastery tracking
Recording performance against specific standard codes rather than topics, so reports show which precise skill is insecure. See assessment.
Depth of Knowledge (DOK)
Webb’s framework for classifying cognitive complexity, widely used to calibrate tasks against state assessment demand.
Growth vs. proficiency
Proficiency measures whether a student met a standard; growth measures how much they progressed. ESSA accountability generally uses both, and they can point in opposite directions for the same school.
Attendance
Chronic absenteeism
Missing 10% or more of enrolled days for any reason, excused or unexcused. Counts students rather than days. See attendance and family engagement.
Average daily attendance (ADA)
The average proportion of enrolled students present. Used for funding in many states, and a poor indicator of whether individual students are missing school, because it averages the problem away.
Technology and AI
AI in education
Use of artificial intelligence to support teaching, learning, assessment and administration. See AI in education.
Pedagogy with AI
Using AI to design, adapt and evidence instruction while the teacher retains professional judgment and accountability, anchored to a stated instructional model and a named standard code. See Pedagogy with AI.
Adaptive learning
Software adjusting content or difficulty based on student responses, with the algorithm setting the path rather than the teacher.
Generative AI
AI producing new content rather than classifying or predicting. The category that forced reconsideration of take-home assessment.
Data privacy agreement (DPA)
A contract governing vendor handling of student data. Many states and consortia maintain standard forms vendors are expected to sign without amendment.