Glossary of
Commonly
Used Acronyms
Acronym
Term
Definition
Assessing
Comprehension and
Communication in English
State-to-State
ACCESS for ELLs (Assessing Comprehension and
Communication in English State-to-State for English
Language Learners) is a secure large-scale English
language proficiency assessment given to Kindergarten
through 12th graders who have been identified as English
language learners (ELLs). It is given annually in WIDA
Consortium member states to monitor students' progress
in acquiring academic English.
Annual Measurable
Achievement Objectives
The objectives that school districts must meet with regard
to their Language Instruction Education Program.
Required by No Child Left Behind.
AYP
Adequate Yearly Progress
A measure of the annual measurable progress made by a
State, school district, or school toward pre-determined
achievement/outcome objectives
BICS
Basic Interpersonal
Communication Skills
The language ability required for face-to-face
communication where linguistic interactions are
embedded in situational context.
BOCES
Board of Cooperative
Educational Services
Intermediate education unit organized to provide regionwide services to nearby local education agencies.
CALP
Cognitive Academic
Language Proficiency
The language ability required for academic achievement
in a context-reduced environment such as classroom
lectures and textbook reading assignments.
ACCESS
AMAO
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Acronym
Term
Definition
CBA
Curriculum-based
Assessment
Measurement procedures that use direct observation and
recording of a student’s performance in the local
curriculum as a basis for gathering information to make
instructional decisions.
CBM
Curriculum-based
Measurement
A broad group of classroom and curriculum based tasks
that are sensitive to increments in student performance
and learning trends.
CDE
Colorado Department of
Education
The Colorado State education agency located in Denver,
Colorado.
CELA
Colorado English
Language Assessment
(Annual or Placement)
An assessment of English proficiency in reading, writing,
speaking, listening, and comprehension.
* given until fall 2012
CELP
Colorado English
Language Proficiency
(standards)
Standards which provide a continuum for language
development and a framework for determining English
language proficiency. The CELP standards should also
be used to provide access to concepts and skills in all
content areas through language differentiation.
CLD
Culturally and
Linguistically Diverse
Refers to students who are culturally and linguistically
diverse.
CoALT
Colorado Alternate
Assessments
CogAT
Cognitive Abilities Test
CSAP
*TCAP
Colorado Student
Assessment Program
*Transitional Colorado
Assessment Program
A standards-based assessment designed specifically for
students with significant cognitive disabilities and is meant
to provide a picture of student performance to schools,
districts, educators, parents and the community.
The standards-based State assessment required by law
that is matched to curriculum to ensure that each student
has educational experiences needed to achieve the
adopted content standards. Student performance levels
include: Advanced, Proficiency, Partially Proficient, and
Unsatisfactory in reading, writing, math, and science.
*TCAP will be given as a transitional assessment until the new state
assessment is adopted.
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Acronym
CSAPA
*TCAPA
Term
Colorado Student
Assessment Program
Alternate
*Transitional Colorado
Assessment Program
Alternate
DRA2
Developmental Reading
Assessment
ECEA
Exceptional Children’s
Education Act
ELA
ELD
ELL/EL
Definition
A standardized assessment designed for students with a
significant cognitive disability who are unable to
participate in the CSAP. The results provide a picture of
students’ performance toward content standards.
*TCAPA will be given as a transitional assessment until the new state
assessment is adopted.
A Colorado law that defines Least Restrictive
Environment and ensures access to a range of services
to meet student needs.
English Language
Acquisition
Providing Services to English language learners through
a transitional native language instruction model and/or an
ESL model. The goal of the program is for students to
transition to the mainstream English language
instructional program.
English Language
Development
Can be a program or a set of guidelines for the language
development of ELLs. Colorado has English Language
Development Standards to guide districts, schools, and
teachers in developing appropriate programs.
English Language Learner A student who is learning English as an additional
language. * These terms may be used interchangeably.
English Learner
English Language
Learners with Exceptional
Needs
A term currently used to designate Limited English
Proficient (LEP) students, those students who are not fully
proficient in English, speak a language other than English
at home, and do not demonstrate the English language
skills of comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing at
a level that would place them in a mainstream, Englishonly class setting.
ELPA
English Language
Proficiency Act
A State-funded program that provides financial and
technical assistance to school districts implementing
programs to serve the needs of students whose dominant
language is not English.
ESEA
Elementary and
Secondary Education Act
ELLEN
A law enacted in 1965 that was reauthorized as the No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) with the goal of
high standards and accountability for all students.
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Acronym
ESL
ESOL
Term
English as a Second
Language
Definition
A model for providing services to English language
learners that includes supported English content
instruction and English language development.
English Students of Other
Languages
Fluent English Proficient
Students who come from another language background
and are now fluent in English (speaking, listening,
reading, and/or writing).
GT or G/T
Gifted and Talented
Students who give evidence of high performance
capability in intellectual, creative, artistic, leadership, or
specific academic areas.
HLQ/HLS
Home Language
Questionnaire/Survey
FEP
IDEA
A form completed at the time of registration used to
identify English language learners for the purpose of
providing access to appropriate educational opportunities.
A federal law that guarantees all eligible children with
disabilities between the ages of 3 and 21 the right to a
Individuals with Disabilities
free appropriate public education designed to meet their
Education Act
individual needs. Public Law 94-142 was an earlier
version of the IDEA.
IEP
Individualized Education
Program
Required for students served under the guise of Special
Education.
ILP
Individual Literacy Plan
A student literacy plan designed to provide instructional
support to meet the student’s individual needs.
IPT
Idea Proficiency Test
A test distributed by Ballard and Tighe used to assess
English Language Proficiency. Available for ages 3 to
grade 12.
Refers to the Lau vs. Nichols 1974 legal case that
provided the Lau codes for documenting levels of
proficiency for English language learners.
Lau
Not an acronym.
LEA
Local Education Agency
The local school district or Board of Cooperative
Educational Services (BOCES).
LEP
Limited English Proficient
Individuals who do not speak English as their primary
language and who have a limited ability to read, speak,
write, or understand English.
LIEP
Language Instruction
Education Program
Districts are required to provide evidence that appropriate
programming is available for ELLs.
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Acronym
LRE
MEP
Term
Definition
Least Restrictive
Environment
Federal Special Education Law IDEA 97 mandates that
every child with a disability be educated in the setting that
least restricts opportunities to be with their non-disabled
peers.
Migrant Education
Program
A state program funded through Title I-C of NCLB to
support students who are failing, or are most at risk of
failing to meet State standards and whose education is
disrupted.
No Child Left Behind
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 reauthorized as the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)—the
main federal law affecting education from kindergarten
through high school. NCLB is built on four principles:
accountability for results, more choices for parents,
greater local control and flexibility, and a scientific
research base.
Non-English Proficient
Students who come from another language background
and are not fluent in English (speaking, listening, reading,
and/or writing).
OCR
Office for Civil Rights
The department of the Federal government that watches
out for violations of civil rights laws. They can also be
contracted by parents and teachers to report violations by
school districts with regards to ethnicity or language
discrimination.
PBIS
Positive Behavior
Intervention Supports
A researched-based systems approach that organizes
adults and students to create a social-culture in schools
that will encourage positive behavior and interactions,
while discouraging problem behaviors.
PHLOTE
Primary or Home
Language Other Than
English
A designation given to students based on information
from the Home Language Questionnaire that indicates
that a language other than English is used in the home,
the students’ first language was other than English, or the
student speaks a language other than English.
PLC
Professional Learning
Community
NCLB
NEP
PST
Problem Solving Team
A school-based team comprised of general and Special
Educators whose purpose is to plan prescriptive
academic and behavioral/emotional interventions and
evaluate their effectiveness.
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Acronym
RTI
SEA
SIOP
SLD
Term
Definition
Response to Intervention
Response to Intervention is a framework that promotes a
well-integrated system connecting general,
compensatory, gifted, and special education in providing
high quality, standards-based instruction and intervention
that is matched to students' academic, social-emotional,
and behavioral needs.
State Education Agency
A formal governmental label for State-level government
within each U.S. State responsible for providing info,
resources, and technical assistance on education
matters.
Sheltered Instruction
Observation Protocol
Specific Learning
Disability
SMART/
SMARTER
Specific, measurable,
attainable, realistic, and
time-based goals
SOLOM
Student Oral Language
Observation Matrix
SpEd or SPED
Special Education
A research-based and validated model of sheltered
instruction. Professional development in the SIOP Model
helps teachers plan and deliver lessons that allow English
learners to acquire academic knowledge as they develop
English language proficiency.
A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological
processes involved in understanding or in using
language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in
the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write,
spell or do mathematical calculations and prevents a
student from receiving reasonable educational benefit
from general education alone.
These are goals that are written to help assure that
students’ progress can be monitored. Uses the stages of
language acquisition to determine appropriate language
goals and activities for second language learners.
A shortened version of the two words.
TCAP
Transitional Colorado
Assessment Program
The standards-based State assessment required by law
that is matched to curriculum to ensure that each student
has educational experiences needed to achieve the
adopted content standards. Student performance levels
include: Advanced, Proficiency, Partially Proficient, and
Unsatisfactory in reading, writing, math, and science.
TCAPA
Transitional Colorado
Assessment Program
Alternate
A standardized assessment designed for students with a
significant cognitive disability who are unable to
participate in the TCAPA. The results provide a picture of
students’ performance toward content standards.
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Acronym
Term
Definition
UNIT
Universal Nonverbal
Intelligence Test
Designed to provide a fair, comprehensive, standardized,
and norm-referenced assessment of general intelligence
with entirely nonverbal administration and response
formats.
USDE or
USED
U.S. Department of
Education
The Federal education department located in
Washington, DC.
W-APT
W-M
WIDA
WIDA-ACCESS
Placement Test
W-APT stands for the WIDA-ACCESS Placement Test. It
is an English language proficiency "screener" test given to
incoming students who may be designated as English
language learners. It assists educators with programmatic
placement decisions such as identification and placement
of ELLs. The W-APT is one component of WIDA's
comprehensive assessment system.
Woodcock-Muñoz
Language Survey
One of the ‘Woodcock-Muñoz,” assessments published
by Riverside Publishing Company that measures English
proficiency in oral language, reading, and writing.
World-Class Instructional
Design and Assessment
A multi-state consortium which advances academic
language development and academic achievement for
linguistically diverse students through high quality
standards, assessments, research, and professional
development for educators.
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