Glossary

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 21st Century Curriculum

Twenty-first century curriculum is interdisciplinary, multilingual, multicultural, project-based,and research-driven. It is connected to the community – local, state, national and global. Sometimes students are collaborating with people around the world in various projects. The curriculum incorporates higher order thinking skills, multiple intelligences, technology and multimedia, the multiple literacies of the 21st century, and authentic assessments. Service learning is an important component.

- Interdisciplinary Learning. The classroom is expanded to include the greater community. Students are self-directed, and work both independently and interdependently. The curriculum and instruction are designed to challenge all students, and provide for differentiation. The curriculum is not textbook-driven or fragmented, but is thematic, project-based and integrated. Skills and content are not taught as an end in themselves, but students learn them through their research and application in their projects. Textbooks, if they have them, are just one of many resources.
- Knowledge Application Knowledge is not memorization of facts and figures, but is constructed through research and application, and connected to previous knowledge and personal experience. The skills and content become relevant and needed as students require this information to complete their projects. The content and basic skills are applied within the context of the curriculum, and are not ends in themselves. Assessment moves from regurgitation of memorized facts and disconnected processes to demonstration of understanding through application in a variety of contexts. Real-world audiences are an important part of the assessment process, as is self-assessment.
- Multimedia Literacy. Media literacy skills are honed as students address real-world issues, from the environment to poverty. Students use the technological and multimedia tools now available to them to design and produce web sites, television shows, radio shows, public service announcements, mini-documentaries, how-to DVDs, oral histories, and even films. Students find their voices as they create projects using multimedia and deliver these products to real-world audiences. Students realize that they can make a difference and change the world. They learn what it is to be a contributing citizen, and carry these citizenship skills forward throughout their lives.
- 21st Century Schools. 21st century schools focus staff and students on ensuring that every student graduates from high school prepared for the option of enrolling in a four-year college or university, pursuing a successful career, and living a healthy life. Students in 21st century schools develop and acquire the confidence, competence and information needed to make positive choices for their future. They demonstrate strength and competence in all areas needed for full participation in the 21st century economic, political, cultural, and intellectual life of our nation and global society. In addition to academic competency, these areas include multilingual and cross-cultural competency; technological literacy; communication skills; aesthetic sensibility; critical and creative thinking, reasoning, and solution-seeing, social, environmental, and civic responsibility, and strength of character.

 A-G Course Requirements

These are the courses that students must pass in order to be eligible for admittance to any of the University of California campuses or any of the California State Universities:

- History/Social Science – 2 years
- English – 4 years
- Mathematics – 3 years
- Laboratory Science – 2 years
- World Languages – 2 years
- Visual and Performing Arts – 1 year
- Other College Preparatory – 1 year

 Advanced Placement (AP)

The Advanced Placement (AP) program offers college-level courses in high school. The courses are designed to prepare students for annual AP Exams. Through AP Exams, students have the opportunity to earn credit or advanced standing at most of the nation's colleges and universities.
Many high schools in the United States offer AP courses, but any student is allowed to take the examination without participating in an AP course. Home-schooled students and students from schools that do not offer AP courses have an equal opportunity to take the examination.
The AP program is run by the College Board, a non-profit organization that develops and maintains 37 college-level courses and exams across 22 subject areas. The College Board 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. AP tests are scored differently from the A-F grading scale common in the United States. They are scored on a numeric scale, 1 to 5, with a score of 3 considered passing and the following general meanings:

- 5: Extremely well-qualified
- 4: Well-qualified
- 3: Qualified
- 2: Possibly qualified
- 1: No recommendation These scores are graded on a curve; students are scored relative to other test-takers rather than on a set standard. These scorings are used by some colleges to exempt students from introductory coursework. Each college's policy is different, but most accept scores of 4 or 5, and some accept scores of 3.
Colleges and universities vary in their approach to indicating AP credit on college transcripts.
AP activities are funded through fees charged to students taking AP Exams. As of the 2008 testing season, exams cost $84 each, though the cost may be subsidized by local or state programs.

 Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID)

An in-school academic support program for grades 4-12 that prepares students for college eligibility and success.

 Balanced Scorecard (BSC)

The balanced scorecard (BSC) is a strategic planning and management system used to align business activities to the vision and strategy of the organization, improve internal and external communications, and monitor organizational performance against strategic goals.

 Baseline Data

Baseline data is basic information gathered before a program begins. It's our starting point. We use this data as a comparison for assessing the impact of a program over time.

 Baseline Technology Standards

The technology infrastructure and support needed to support learning and decision-making in SFUSD schools. This includes, but is not limited to, standards for high-speed network connectivity, adequate bandwidth, network hardware, servers, computers, software, peripheral tools, training, and technical support. The baseline technology standards are defined in the current Education Technology Master Plan and will be updated in the December 2008 Technology Master Plan.

 Basic

Referring to an achievement level on the California Standards Tests, BASIC refers to the middle level, below PROFICIENT and above BELOW BASIC.

 Below Basic

Referring to an achievement level on the California Standards Tests, BELOW BASIC is the second lowest level, above FAR BELOW BASIC and below BASIC.

 Benchmark

A standard used for comparison.

 California English Language Development Test (CELDT)

This test is California's formal assessment of a student's proficiency of English status across several domains. The performance of English Learners on this test determines a district's status in meeting language proficiency targets for its students.

 California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE)

The CAHSEE is a test created by the California Department of Education. All California high school students are required to pass the exam in order graduate. The exam tests students in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics.

 California Standards Tests (CSTs)

The state of California has adopted academic standards which describe what students should know and be able to do in each grade and subject. CSTs measure how much progress a student is making towards those standards. Results of these tests are used to determine if a school/district has met state and federal accountability requirements.

 Career Pathways

A coherent sequence of rigorous academic and technical courses that prepare students for successful completion of state academic standards, while supporting their transition to more advanced post secondary coursework related to a career area of interest

 Caring and Supportive Relationships

Fostering caring and supportive relationships in school is a way of relating to youth, their families, and each other that conveys compassion, understanding, respect and interest. It includes seeing possibilities in each child and using one's wisdom of the heart. Truly listening to a youth's story is a powerful signal that an adult believes and accepts and cares about the youth. Creating a school wide climate of caring means staff, too, must have collegial support networks. One of the most critical factors of fostering a positive school culture is the approach and tone of the teacher. Students who believe their teachers care about them perform better academically.

 Cognitive Engagement

Students are cognitively engaged when they give sustained, engaged attention to a task requiring mental effort. The highest form of cognitive engagement is self-regulated learning (Corno & Mandinach, 1983), where learners plan and manage their own learning and have a high degree of personal control and autonomy. A learner's cognitive engagement and her or his motivation are inextricably linked together. The amount of cognitive effort expended by the learner is an appropriate measure of her or his motivation as it relies on the learner focusing on mastering the learning task and maintaining a high sense of personal efficacy (Shunk, 1989).
Self-regulated learning is critical to beginning and ongoing motivation as students engage in specific cognitive activities that derive from the novelty of the learning environment that allows the students to establish different perspectives that relate back to their own world views.

 Communities of Practice (CoP)

A community of practice is a group of individuals participating in communal activity, and experiencing/continuously creating their shared identity through engaging in and contributing to the practices of their communities. The concept of the community of practice comes from the understanding that learning can be conceptualized as social participation – the individual as an active participant in the practices of social communities, and in the construction of his/her identity through these communities.

 Community Service

A service that a person performs for the benefit of his or her local community, usually without compensation.

 Community-Based Organization (CBO)

An organization operated by a non-profit agency, community coalition, local city, or other public organization which has as its mission services to people within the community.

 Core Curriculum

In education, a core curriculum is a curriculum, or course of study, which is deemed central and usually made mandatory for all students of a school or school system. Core curricula are often instituted, at the primary and secondary levels, by school boards, Departments of Education, or other administrative agencies charged with overseeing education. In California, core curriculum includes language arts, mathematics, science, history/social science, visual and performing arts, and world languages.

 Culturally & Linguistically Responsive

A culturally and linguistically responsive classroom is one that recognizes the impact students' home language and culture has on their education and, thus, provides a culturally and linguistically supported learning environment to enable all students to succeed. Culturally and linguistically responsive teaching is student-centered: the strengths students bring to school are identified, nurtured, and utilized to promote student achievement.
Culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy comprises three dimensions: (a) institutional, (b) personal, and (c) instructional. The institutional dimension reflects the administration and its policies and values. The personal dimension refers to the cognitive and emotional processes teachers must engage in to become culturally and linguistically responsive. The instructional dimension includes materials, strategies, and activities that form the basis of instruction. All three dimensions significantly interact in the teaching and learning process and are critical to understanding the effectiveness of culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy.

 Desegregation

In the desegregation of the district, San Francisco was ordered by a federal court to eliminate racial and ethnic identifiability in schools, programs, and classrooms. The goal was to prevent, reduce, or eliminate racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic segregation of students and to promote academic achievement and educational opportunity for all students.

 Digital Divide

The term digital divide refers to the gap between those people with effective access to digital and information technology and those without access to it. It includes the imbalances in physical access to technology as well as the imbalances in resources and skills needed to effectively participate as a digital citizen.

 Digital Resources

Digital resources include books and other materials available in digital formats (as opposed to print, microform, or other media) and accessible by computers. The digital content may be stored locally, or accessed remotely via computer networks. A digital library is a type of information retrieval system.

 DREAM Schools

Dream Schools, initiated under the SFUSD Improvement Plan Excellence for All, include a vision of student success and opportunity that focus on college connections, academic achievement, engaging instructional models, student support system, varied learning experiences and parents empowerment. The program includes a longer instructional day for students and other targeted resources, including those described in the STAR Initiative, with expanded library, visual and performing arts, and student support staff (a nurse and learning support professional).SFUSD has six Dream Schools: Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary (Pre-K to 3), Willie Brown Academy (grades 4-8), Sanchez Elementary, Everett Middle School, John O'Connell High School of Technology and Paul Revere K-8. In addition, Thurgood Marshall High School offers a Dream Academy for 9-10th graders.

 Dropout

Various ways of calculating the dropout rate reveal different ways of thinking about the issue. Event rate indicates the number of students who leave high school each year and is compared with previous years. Status rate, a cumulative rate much higher than the event rate, denotes the proportion of all individuals in the population who have not completed high school and were not enrolled at a given point in time. Cohort rate describes the number of dropouts from a single age group or specific grade (or cohort) of students over a period of time. The high school completion rate indicates the percentage of all persons ages 21 and 22 who have completed high school by receiving a high school diploma or equivalency certificate.
The following factors lead to unreliable aggregated national dropout figures:

- different definitions of dropouts
- different time periods during the school year when dropout data are collected
- different data collection methods
- different ways of tracking youth no longer in school different methods used by school districts and states to calculate the dropout rate, result in unreliable aggregated national dropout figures

 Effort Optimism

Effort optimism refers to how strongly a student believes that hard work/effort in school will pay off with academic/school success. A strong conviction generally results in greater success, and can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, reinforcing that belief. When the conviction is weak or nonexistent, generally students experience less success, and this reinforces the belief that effort doesn't matter.

 English Learners

English Learners are students who are speakers of another language and are in the process of learning English. The goal of SFUSD is for English Learners to learn both English and their home language to high levels, to meet grade level content standards for promotion, graduation, and college entrance, and to develop the skills, competencies, and dispositions necessary for success in the 21st century.

 Equity-Centered Professional Development

Professional development that incorporates social justice issues in teaching and education, including attention to fairness and equity with regard to gender, race, class, disability, sexual orientation, etc.

 Gifted & Talented Education

The mission of Gifted and Talented Education Programs is to provide challenging and engaging learning experiences and opportunities for growth that enable children with high potential, talent, and exceptional capacity to develop to their potential. In SFUSD, we believe that every student possesses visible and invisible talents, and we see our role as supporting the full development of those talents.