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Glossary

Plain explanations of terms used in both guides.

Accountability: Responsibility for your actions. In education it covers acting responsibly, delivering programmes and services well, following education laws and policies, using public funds wisely, and regularly telling students, parents, teachers, stakeholders, government and the public what money was spent, what was done and what was achieved.
Achievement Gap: Persistent, significant differences in achievement between groups of students. These show up in student assessments, drop-out rates and school completion rates.
Active Parental Involvement: Parents taking part in and supporting their children's education over time, including regular communication and collaboration with educators.
Administrative Structure: The formal hierarchy of an education system, set out in legislation and policy. It links the ministry, district and school levels.
Alignment: When the structures, processes, programmes, priorities and goals of schools and the education system are in step and working together.
Assessment: The ongoing process of gathering, interpreting and using evidence of what students know, understand and can do. It is used to monitor and report progress, inform teaching and learning, and keep students, parents and educators up to date.
Balanced Student Assessment: A combination of diagnostic, formative and summative assessments. Together they measure student progress, inform teaching and learning, and show how students, schools and the system are performing against benchmarks and standards.
Blended Model of Educational Leadership: A combination of two or more models of educational leadership, such as instructional, transformational and distributed leadership.
Capacity-Building: Developing the knowledge, values and skills of education professionals so they can transform teaching and learning and improve student outcomes.
Coaching: Job-embedded professional development where a specially trained educator works with other educators. The coach helps them learn, practise and use new knowledge and skills in schools and classrooms.
Collaboration: Two or more people working together to achieve a common goal.
Collaborative Problem-Solving: Two or more people pooling their expertise, effort and resources to solve a problem.
Communication: Actively sharing data, knowledge, ideas and feelings by sending and receiving information.
Continuous School and System Improvement (CSSI): A positive, asset-based, data-informed approach to improving teaching, learning and leadership in schools and the education system, so that students' academic success and well-being increase.
Culturally-Responsive Education: Education that values and promotes diverse cultures, languages and peoples. All students see themselves reflected in their curricula, learning resources, teaching and assessments.
Curriculum: A full instructional guide for a subject at a grade level. It sets out what is taught, how it is taught, the learning activities and resources, the assessment methods and the learning standards to be achieved.
Data Collection, Analysis and Utilization: Data collection is gathering information from several sources. Data analysis is examining it closely to find patterns and trends. Data utilization is applying what the analysis found in practice.
Data-Informed Decision-Making: Collecting, analysing and using different forms of data to inform decisions and choices.
Diagnostic Assessment: Assessment that pinpoints where students are in their learning, development or well-being, so teaching and assessment can be tailored to their needs. Informal diagnostic assessments are made by teachers and used at the start of a unit, term or year, for example surveys, interest inventories, oral questioning and unit pre-tests. Formal diagnostic assessments are standardised, normed tests carried out by qualified specialists, such as school psychologists, special education teachers and guidance counsellors.
Differentiation: Tailoring teaching and assessment to students' different strengths, needs and interests. Teachers 'meet students where they are' by offering different ways to learn, process and show new knowledge and skills.
Distributed Leadership: A shared model of leadership. Leaders pool their expertise with teachers, students and others to solve problems together, make data-informed decisions, grow teacher leadership and keep improving teaching and learning. It depends on trust, respect and positive relationships.
Education Sector or Development Plan: A type of continuous system improvement plan. It sets the strategic direction for transforming a national education system: priorities, goals, reforms, policies, infrastructure projects and quality assurance.
Education System: The institutions, governance structures, staff and stakeholders that together educate students in a place such as a country. Education systems are often run and funded as government departments.
Educational Leader: Anyone appointed to a formal leadership post at school, district or system level, including deputy principals, principals, education officers and curriculum officers.
Educational Leadership: Guiding a school community or education system towards a shared vision of holistic student success, by continuously improving teaching and learning.
Educational Leadership Model: A framework based on a particular theory of educational leadership. It describes the knowledge, values, skills and competencies leaders need to put that theory into practice.
Educational Leadership Standards: Benchmarks that describe the leadership models, values, skills, practices and competencies that school, district and system leaders are expected to show in their daily work.
Equity: Fair, just and impartial treatment of individuals.
Evidence: Proof that something is true.
Evidence-Based Practices: Teaching, learning and leadership practices that several high-quality experimental studies have shown to improve outcomes for particular groups of learners.
Explicit Teaching: Direct, structured teaching. Teachers clearly explain and demonstrate a concept or skill, break it into smaller steps, give students time to practise, and give descriptive feedback.
Formative Assessment: Ongoing assessment of student progress while teaching and learning are happening.
Governance: The legislation, policies, standards, administrative structures, management processes and oversight bodies that regulate schools and the education system.
Holistic Student Success: A wider idea of student success that goes beyond achievement to the education of the whole child: their learning, development and well-being.
Inclusive Education: Education that all students can access, whatever their gender, background or ability. Students learn alongside their peers, with curriculum, teaching and assessment that respond to their needs.
Inclusive Leadership: A values-centred model of leadership that promotes fair access for every student to learning environments, resources, activities, teaching and assessment that respond to student diversity.
Instruction: The act of teaching.
Instructional Leadership: A student-centred model of leadership that promotes excellence in curriculum, teaching and assessment and strengthens the quality of teaching and learning.
Job-Embedded Professional Development: Practical professional development that meets educators' specific learning needs and lets them learn, practise and apply skills in their daily work. Examples include coaching, mentoring, and project- and problem-based learning.
Leadership Development: Professional learning that helps leaders gain, practise and apply knowledge, values and skills, and supports their professional growth.
Operational Leadership: Overseeing and managing the day-to-day running of a school or education system, including facilities, finances, staff and resources.
Professional Learning Community: A team of educators who meet regularly to collaborate, innovate, share experience and build their professional knowledge and skills.
Quality Curriculum: A rigorous, coherent, standards-based, inclusive and complete instructional guide for a subject and grade. It sets out what students learn, the evidence-based teaching, learning and assessment practices to use, and the learning outcomes to achieve.
Quality Education: Accessible, equitable, student-centred education that supports the holistic learning, development and well-being of all students, so they reach their full potential. It gives students the knowledge, values, skills and competencies they need in school, further study, work and life.
Quality Leadership: Leadership that advances quality teaching and learning. It sets and works towards a shared vision of student success, builds trust, grows teacher leadership and professional development, manages staff, facilities, finances and resources, and leads with accountability, integrity and professionalism.
Quality Learning: Active student inquiry, engagement and building of knowledge. It nurtures creativity and innovation, collaboration and communication, higher-order thinking, character and self-awareness, and a wide range of skills, including 21st century skills.
Quality Teaching: Student-centred curriculum, teaching and assessment that respond to students' different strengths, challenges, interests and learning styles. It engages students in active learning, builds on what they already know, and helps them apply knowledge, skills and values in different settings.
Reflective Practice: A self-study process where leaders critically examine their own beliefs, values, assumptions and practices to strengthen their leadership.
Scaffolding: An evidence-based teaching practice. Teachers give structure and support, then gradually remove it as students become proficient. It is sometimes described as 'I do. We do. You do.'
Student Achievement: How far a student meets the outcomes, standards or goals for a subject or grade.
Summative Assessment: Assessment given after teaching has finished, at the end of a unit, term or school year. It measures how far students have reached learning standards, goals or outcomes.
Supportive Supervision: A collaborative process in which leaders guide and help teachers and other staff to keep improving their knowledge, skills and well-being. They do this through professional conversations.
Transformational Leadership: A capacity-building model of leadership. Leaders inspire, equip and empower others to turn a school or system into an effective learning organisation. They build trust and relationships, encourage creativity and risk-taking, promote teacher leadership, and model values-centred leadership and high expectations.
Trust: The belief that another person is reliable, truthful, dependable and honest.
Value: An ideal or belief held by a person or group.