Get Schooled

By Private School Guy

October 15, 2008 11:38 AM | Link to this

Stakeholder - I think this first appeared on some SACS document then was picked up by administrators. The public or taxpayers would be far better. Stakeholder sound like the guy who’s helping somebody kill a vampire. There is also a PC bent to this where certain parties might be excluded such as property developers and parents with kids in private schools.

By Joyce

October 15, 2008 12:13 PM | Link to this

This isn’t really educationese, but I find it annoying as a parent and former teacher to get correspondence from my son’s school that constantly refers to my “student” this and my “student” that. He’s my child and their student. Why can’t schools simply say “children”?

By HS Teacher, Too

October 15, 2008 12:22 PM | Link to this

Honest answer: educrats speak this way to (1) emulate business jargon, perhaps to get some respectability and (2) put a positive spin on everything. Remember, it’s all about self-esteem nowadays, everyone being capable, and blah blah blah ad nauseum. We can’t say a kid misbehaved; we have to say he didn’t meet behavioral expectations. We also all know that education trends are cyclical, but if we call things by new names and make them sound more business-like, perhaps we’ll get new recognition for old tricks.

Whatever.

In the end, it slows down real communication because there’s too much sugar coating and not enough attention given to promoting a real understanding of what the heck is going on. In fact, this was part of an issue that was discussed on MOMania yesterday — a parent couldn’t understand what a teacher was describing. Was the kid chatty, or was “chatty” teacher-ese for “disruptive”? To modify the old expression, let’s call a rose a rose.

I agree with “stakeholder” being among the top annoying words in education. I am sure I could list countless others, but stakeholder is a great one.

By V for Vendetta

October 15, 2008 12:28 PM | Link to this

I love the term “behaviorally challenged.” It really shows just how out of whack the state of public education is in American these days. Euphemisms are great fun, aren’t they? Why don’t we just call some of them “living impaired” or “poster child for abortion?” Stop beating around the bush, eh?

Ha! “Behaviorally challenged” is just educationese for a*******hole!

By Stacey

October 15, 2008 12:29 PM | Link to this

I am not politically correct and hate most things “PC” so I would do away with most of the touchy-feely jargon used everywhere these days. When I was in school (not so long ago) behaviorally challenged kids were either “bad” or “juvenile delinquents”. I miss the days when people called a spade a spade.

By Leah

October 15, 2008 12:31 PM | Link to this

Joyce - we were specifically told to address your child as your student in any written correspodence for 2 reasons - first of all, I teach in a high school, and the students don’t like to be referred to as children, and secondly, the person who takes care of them may not be a parent, but, instead a guardian or group-home leader.

Why on earth would that annoy you? You must have a great life if that’s what bothers you!

Have a great day!

By luvs2teach

October 15, 2008 12:42 PM | Link to this

I’ve had three main careers - one in the military, one in the medical/science field, and one in education. ALL had their own jargon and acronyms (and if you think schools are bad with acronyms, you have never served in the military).

Throw in the last thirty years’ propensity for PC terms (like behaviorally challenged) and you get the jargon soup served up cold like gazpacho.

By jim d

October 15, 2008 12:44 PM | Link to this

It Must be the parents fault!

Actually I believe it is. If they don’t want to raise kids they shouldn’t have them..

By jim d

October 15, 2008 1:02 PM | Link to this

here’s a few that I just Luv.

accommodations

inclusion

benchmarks

proficiency

at-risk student

highly qualified teacher

Individual Education Program (IEP)

alternative assessments

Alternative Schools Accountability Model (ASAM)

rubric

whole language

conflict management

core academics

School Accountability Report Card (SARC)

enrichment

School Improvement Program (SIP

and this one just kills me. scientifically based research

Oh yeah and World Class Education

immersion education

manipulatives

NCLB (No Child Left Behind)

English as a Second Language

mainstreaming

socioeconomicallly disadvantaged

intervention

And I’m sure others can add to the list.

By jim d

October 15, 2008 1:07 PM | Link to this

LOL Luv,

INDEED!!

I’m just starting to learn those military acronyms. ! It is a whole nuther language.

By LeAH

October 15, 2008 1:13 PM | Link to this

I’m old enough to remember when ADD kids were just BAD!

By catlady

October 15, 2008 1:17 PM | Link to this

Add

EIP

Direct Instruction

attendance support team

Student support team

Learning Focused Schools

Needs-based instruction

Reading First

“student achievement”

but, as you mentioned, my “FAVORITE” is research based instruction followed closely by RTI.

By catlady

October 15, 2008 1:22 PM | Link to this

Oops!

Instructional Diet

Instructional Density

By catlady

October 15, 2008 1:25 PM | Link to this

One of my favorites used about my youngest child:

She doesn’t grant authority very easily.

What a great way to say she is stubborn and opinionated! When I tried to apologize, the woman said, “No, when she is 13 or 14 or 15 you don’t WANT her granting authority very easily.” And they were right. She felt quite free to turn down friends’ ideas to do stupid stuff.

By jim d

October 15, 2008 2:03 PM | Link to this

Ah but cat my all time fav. is NAPOALVIN!!

By jim d

October 15, 2008 2:08 PM | Link to this

OMG!!!

Learning Focused Schools

who’d a ever thunk it?

By catlady

October 15, 2008 2:20 PM | Link to this

jim d, everytime you type that it makes me think you are typing napalm, that defoliant they used in Vietnam (with disasterous health effects). Maybe that fits….

By high school teacher

October 15, 2008 2:58 PM | Link to this

jimd - the “creator” of learning focused schools has to be the richest guy in America.

My personal favs:

GPS (my eyes glaze over when I try to read them)

A sample GPS for English classes, since we have 5 domains of standards: ELA9RL5

standards based classroom

But my all-time favorite is ODD: oppositional defiance disorder, which means a child doesn’t respond well to being told what to do. My parents had a tremendous cure for ODD, but I’m not allowed to use it in the classroom :)

By jim d

October 15, 2008 3:11 PM | Link to this

High school teacher.

I don’t know exactly how wealthy he is but he is certainly a salesman of record.

Here’s what one educator had to say; “Max Thompson is the best used car salesmen in America today. He has taken all of the good teaching practices that most of us have used for years and placed them in his own easily carried, name changed, multi-volume set that your school system can buy for his greatly inflated cost. Now, does LFS work, yes!!!! Because it is nothing more than best practices. My gosh!!! You would think that no one ever used a graphic organizer or vocabulary lists before Lord Max invented it.”

By jim d

October 15, 2008 3:18 PM | Link to this

High school teacher.

My goodness, why in heavens name would anyone wish to surpress ODD in another person? Many of us don’t like being TOLD what to do. We do however react quite differentlty to being asked to do something. I think it may be something called free will. I’m going to venture a bit of a guess that you didn’t grow up in the 60’s, right?

By high school teacher

October 15, 2008 3:34 PM | Link to this

You’re right; I was born in 71 to very young but loving yet firm parents. ODD kids can’t handle simple requests such as “take out your paper and pencil.” That’s more than an issue than free will, don’t ya think?

By high school teacher

October 15, 2008 3:35 PM | Link to this

You’re right; I was born in 71 to very young but loving yet firm parents. ODD kids can’t handle simple requests such as “take out your paper and pencil.” That’s more than an issue of free will, don’t ya think?

By tom

October 15, 2008 3:46 PM | Link to this

No jargon is inherently bad. They are useful for the people in the profession. It becomes an issue when people don’t pay attention to who the audience is. I imagine some people in any profession will intentionally use jargons when they are fully aware that the audience include people from outside of the profession to somehow make them sound more impressive or make those people feel inferior. I think that’s the root cause of “annoyance,” not the use of jargons themselves.

By the way, stacey and leah, we are no longer in the dark ages - it is perfectly appropriate to use the labels that describes the problem more accurately.

By jim d

October 15, 2008 3:56 PM | Link to this

“take out your paper and pencil.”

Still sounds like a direct order

Not that it would make a difference, but one might try saying something like Ok students, we will need paper and pencil for the next exercise. Allowing them to recognize what they need to do might make a difference to some of them.

You see I am rather like this and know many other people that are the same. By allowing us to realize what we need to do you have empowered us to make the decison.

Whatta ya got to lose? give it a shot.

By Stacey

October 15, 2008 4:21 PM | Link to this

By the way, stacey and leah, we are no longer in the dark ages - it is perfectly appropriate to use the labels that describes the problem more accurately.

Thank you, Tom. I feel so much more enlightened knowing that “behaviorally challenged” and “oppositional defiance disorder” are more accurate descriptions of the problem. IMO, HARD-HEADED describes the problem accurately but what do I know; I am not a teacher! :0)

By Tony

October 15, 2008 4:30 PM | Link to this

jim d - I can’t help but take humor in your position regarding making requests as you have just sent a child (or student according to another post) off to military school. Do they make requests there?

Jargon is a necessity for professional dialogue. unfortunately, some terms are being added to the jargon that are not very palatable. I agree that words like stakeholder and behaviorally challenged are not good terms to use.

Just as doctors, lawyers, the military, septic tank professionals, mechanics and gun smiths have their terms, we have ours. Shame on us when we forget our audience. When conducting meetings with parents, I don’t want to talk down to them or leave them out of the discussion by sticking with specialized vocabulary. We need to slow down and make sure everyone understands the conversation. (I bet a mechanic and septic tank professional have different ideas about what a dipstick is for.)

I personally think all schools should be learning focused. (Please note that I used lower case!)

By high school teacher

October 15, 2008 4:49 PM | Link to this

Well, I do say “Please” in front of it. :)

By jim d

October 15, 2008 5:16 PM | Link to this

Tony,

I too find it humorous. But then you’d have to understand the home situation to really grasp the true levity in my need to be asked rather than ordered. On the other hand there are people that respond better to direct orders. I just don’t happen to be one of them. As for sending my child? No my friend the decision was entirely his I just encouraged him to follow his heart. Had it been mine to make, his choice would not have been mine.

By Ray

October 15, 2008 5:17 PM | Link to this

What about: Differentiated instruction Rigor Pyramid of Intervention Progress Monitoring Balanced Literacy (Someone mentioned this but used the old term of Whole Language) GAPSS

By jim d

October 15, 2008 5:19 PM | Link to this

High school teacher,

Well now, that DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE! :-)

By Old School

October 15, 2008 5:20 PM | Link to this

Differentiation, Awareness Walks, Speak in the language of the standards, Word Wall, Harry Wong, PLUs …

Honestly, I spend so much time jumping through hoops, I ought to be about 50 pounds lighter!

By jim d

October 15, 2008 5:34 PM | Link to this

Actually Tony, my comment wasn’t so much as providing the students with a request as much as it was of informing them of what they would need and letting them be responsible for figuring out what they needed to do. Small acts of responsibility, if you will, help young people take the roles they will eventually have to fill. It does me no harm to provide them an opportunity to grow in responsibility. ( but I guess now we are talking about child raising not professional teaching)

By Erin

October 15, 2008 6:04 PM | Link to this

My personal least favorite term, at least from when I was a DeKalb County student, was the one a new principal brought in and used pretty much all the time: “time on task.”

“At-risk” is a term that’s been used to death … ditto for manipulatives, NCLB (such a joke of a program!) and many, many others.

By Allison

October 15, 2008 6:34 PM | Link to this

We have to use the GaDOE acronyms with our students. My personal favorites are LOTS (language of the standard) and HOTS high order thinking skills). MY 12th grade AP students laugh hysterically when the curriculum support person comes in asks them about what sort of HOTS they are doing today. Oh well, I guess laughing is better than crying. Teachers are also told that we really dont need to lecture in standard based classrooms. What’s going to happen to our students when they get to college? I guess they all need to major in education so they can do lots of projects and group work because highschool teachers are told that lecture is not standards based and they are going to have no clue on how to take notes from lecture.

By Lee

October 15, 2008 6:51 PM | Link to this

Yep, every profession has it’s own jargon. Usually, the source is some Phd or consultant type trying to impress “the great unwashed masses” with his superior intellect.

Instead of fighting it, have a little fun with it. A little game of “Buzz Word Bingo” can bring a little levity to any meeting. Just don’t let the boss know what you’re up to…

Oh yeah, my least favorite teacher phrase that I see used on this blog a lot is “pedagogy.”

By SallyB

October 15, 2008 9:21 PM | Link to this

Well, I agree with you all who say every profession has it’s own jargon. However, speaking from the perspective of a 30 year teacher,…… in Education, it began around 20 years ago. That was when the the “New and Better” educational Program Salesmen began to sell the SUITS in the IVORY TOWERS at the county offices the Cures du Jour!!!! Each Cure du Jour had it’s own jargon……America’s Choice, Reading First, etc. . Each and every year at pre-planning for teachers , we were bombarded with the newest and best new program. The REPS from the company making all the money from selling these programs would try to indoctrinate the teachers and convince them how wonderful the Cure du Jour for that year was.
My colleagues and I always wondered who got the kickbacks from the purchase of these wildly expensive programs.
Laura asks if this is regurgitation….AB-SO-DAM-LUTE-LY!!!!!

By Love my 4 kids

October 16, 2008 1:57 AM | Link to this

Some of my all time favorite eduspeak comes from the book, TAXONOMY OF EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: BOOK 2 AFFECTIVE DOMAIN by Bloom, Krathwohl, and Masia:

p. 175 “Test: “Inventory of Beliefs;…”Methods in Personality Assessment”… This inventory was constructed to yield evidence on Stern, Stein, and Bloom’s model for the characterization of personality. The model consists of three syndromes, each varying in its basic psychological characteristics along eight designated “major personality parameters.” For example, the characteristics of each syndrome on dimension 1, “Reaction to Others,” and dimension 5, “Energy Level,” are: STERIOPATH SYNDROME: Ineffectual liberation of affective tension and continual free-floating anxiety drains off energy otherwise available for goal-directed activity. NON-STERIOPATH SYNDROME Highly personalized relationships. Perception of authority figures realistically, frequently as overprotective or overpossessive…Capable of sustained effort for remote goals. RATIONAL SYNDROME Little emotional involvement in personal relationships. Perception of authority figures as distant, vulnerable and fallible…Energy Level: Moderate to strong, directed chiefly toward abstract pursuits, sometimes impractical in content.”

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE http://www.ithaca.edu/faculty/stephens/cdback.html

By mmmm

October 16, 2008 6:20 AM | Link to this

I think the biggest joke is “teacher.” Our kids aren’t learning - so, how can they be “teachers”?

By mmmm must be an ineffective parent

October 16, 2008 7:22 AM | Link to this

mmmmm - I have “your” kid for 53 minutes per day. I cannot undo the 15 or 16 years of damage that has already been done.

Just because you squirted him/her out doesn’t mean you’re a good parent. Look in the mirror if you need to place blame…

By Tony

October 16, 2008 8:00 AM | Link to this

jim d, i understand from where you come! I’ve just sent the second off to college. Both had to make their choices and I, too, offer encouragement and guidance all along the way without telling them what they will do.

By bearcasey

October 16, 2008 8:26 AM | Link to this

Educational jargon originates in universities. “Education” as a discrete discipline is relatively new (last 80 years or so) in comparison to liberal arts subjects. Other academic schools have developed their own jargon so education followed suit. If you think “educationese” is bad, try to decipher economics jargon. Makes your head hurt!

By high school teacher

October 16, 2008 9:14 AM | Link to this

Lee, I’ve been in this gig for 14 years, and I still don’t understand what a “pedagogy” is. :)

Some more acronyms for you this morning:\ LYNT = last year’s new thing TYNT = this year’s new thing NYNT = next year’s new thing

By Hick from the Sticks

October 16, 2008 11:46 AM | Link to this

HST—

You make me feel so much better about myself. I’ve been teaching for eleven years, and for the longest time, I had swore a pedagogy was why my wife’s feet were so neatly done every Friday afternoon.

:)

By Old School

October 16, 2008 12:13 PM | Link to this

Possibly the best acronym is: CYA (sibling to CMA) and everyone probably knows that one!

How about adding Paradigm Shift to the list?

By Love my 4 kids

October 16, 2008 7:54 PM | Link to this

Old School FYI “Paradigm Shift in Higher Education” http://bloglar.drcetiner.com/makaleler/paradigm-shift-in-higher-education/

For some reason, WWII era BLOOM’S TAXONOMY never seems to change…

By Handy

October 17, 2008 7:48 PM | Link to this

Essential Agreement. A little IB ditty. Want to see an elementary kid’s eyes glaze over? Use that term instead of Rule.