GLOSSARY

This glossary has been developed for the purpose of briefly defining terms that may appear in school related communications, information and documents.

Alignment All efforts and stakeholders heading towards the same goals.

Articulation Communicating expectations across grades and stakeholder groups

Assessment An ongoing coordinated process of collecting information for continuously improving the system of student learning

Benchmark The desired level of performance against which progress is measured

Building Goals(SIP Goals) Measurable targets determined at each building that are aligned with district strategic plan

Classroom Dashboard Identifies class or course priorities

Continual Improvement The philosophy whereby every system or process is subject to continual scrutiny and improvement.

Customer Anyone who receives or consumes goods or services. (Education’s customers are students, their parents, the next grade-level staff, and former students).

Customer Focus Related to the needs of customers, understanding that meeting or exceeding the needs of the customer must drive the vision and that all improvement must be customer driven.

Customer Satisfaction Checking the “pulse” of the customer, assessing levels of satisfaction in a systematic fashion.

Data Facts that must be gathered and analyzed for information. Only data gathering and analysis permits one to “speak with facts.”

Data Management The process by which the reliability, timeliness and accessibility of a data is assured.

Gap Analysis Assessing the distance between the current level of performance and the desired level of performance.

Indicator An identified measure of a process.

Key Performance Indicators Measurement(s) that determine if the critical success factor was successfully achieved.

Measurement The act or process of measuring in order to compare results with requirements, a quantitative estimate of performance.

Mission The purpose and focus of an organization that states why we are here, what the purpose is, and how it will be accomplished.

PDSA Cycle (Plan, Do, Study, Act) An ongoing process that begins with collecting/studying thedata and prioritizing actions to be taken (Plan), implementing the actions (Do), evaluating the effectiveness (Study), determining the effectiveness of actions and identifying where improvement is needed (Act) (also referred to as an action plan or six steps to improvement cycle).

Performance Standard A goal against which actual performance is measured.

Portfolio A systematic collection of student-produced work and support documents that show evidence of a student’s learning. It reflects a student’s development and progress over time on a variety of concepts, processes, skills and attitudes.

Quality Assessment The operational techniques and activities used to evaluate the quality of processes, practices, programs, products and services.

Rubric An objective method of grading performance that provides reliable and valid information on the quality of learning. It is based on criteria that describe student performance at various levels of proficiency.

Stakeholder All those who have an interest or level of participation in an organization. In schools, stakeholders are community members, parents, students, teachers, ancillary staff members, administrators and school board members.

Stakeholder survey- A measure of satisfaction.

Student Data Folder An individual student folder in each grade used to graph progress in various areas.

System A set of well-defined and well-designed processes for meeting quality and performance requirements.

Systems thinking:
All parts of an organization are related and work together.  A systems perspective means managing the system as well as each piece to achieve performance excellence.

Tool An instrument used to perform a task or to display collected data(see Quality tools above). Example: charts, graphs, diagrams, questionnaires, etc.

TQM Total Quality Management - a management approach to long-term success through customer satisfaction. It is based upon the participation of all members of an organization in improving processes.

Vision A clear, positive, forceful statement, usually 25 words or less, describing what the organization wants to be in three to five years or more, expressed in simple specific terms.