Glossary

Distance Learning

As defined by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:^[3]

The term distance learning' means the transmission of educational or instructional programming to geographically dispersed individuals and groups via telecommunications.

Educational Service Agency

As defined by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:^[3]

The term educational service agency' means a regional public multiservice agency authorized by State statute to develop, manage, and provide services or programs to local educational agencies.

Elementary School

As defined by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:^[3]

The term elementary school' means a nonprofit institutional day or residential school, including a public elementary charter school, that provides elementary education, as determined under State law.

Exemplary Teacher

As defined by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:^[3]

The term exemplary teacher' means a teacher who —
(A) is a highly qualified teacher such as a master teacher;
(B) has been teaching for at least 5 years in a public or private school or institution of higher education;
(C) is recommended to be an exemplary teacher by administrators and other teachers who are knowledgeable about the individual's performance;
(D) is currently teaching and based in a public school; and
(E) assists other teachers in improving instructional strategies, improves the skills of other teachers, performs teacher mentoring, develops curricula, and offers other professional development.

Free Public Education

As defined by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:^[3]

The term free public education' means education that is provided —
(A) at public expense, under public supervision and direction, and without tuition charge; and
(B) as elementary school or secondary school education as determined under applicable State law, except that the term does not include any education provided beyond grade 12.

Family Literacy Services

As defined by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:^[3]

The term family literacy services' means services provided to participants on a voluntary basis that are of sufficient intensity in terms of hours, and of sufficient duration, to make sustainable changes in a family, and that integrate all of the following activities:
(A) Interactive literacy activities between parents and their children.
(B) Training for parents regarding how to be the primary teacher for their children and full partners in the education of their children.
(C) Parent literacy training that leads to economic self-sufficiency.
(D) An age-appropriate education to prepare children for success in school and life experiences.

Gifted and Talented

As defined by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:^[3]

The term gifted and talented', when used with respect to students, children, or youth, means students, children, or youth who give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities.

Highly Qualified

As defined in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:^[3]

The term highly qualified' —
(A) when used with respect to any public elementary school or secondary school teacher teaching in a State, means that —
(i) the teacher has obtained full State certification as a teacher (including certification obtained through alternative routes to certification) or passed the State teacher licensing examination, and holds a license to teach in such State, except that when used with respect to any teacher teaching in a public charter school, the term means that the teacher meets the requirements set forth in the State's public charter school law; and
(ii) the teacher has not had certification or licensure requirements waived on an emergency, temporary, or provisional basis;
(B) when used with respect to —
(i) an elementary school teacher who is new to the profession, means that the teacher —
(I) holds at least a bachelor's degree; and
(II) has demonstrated, by passing a rigorous State test, subject knowledge and teaching skills in reading, writing, mathematics, and other areas of the basic elementary school curriculum (which may consist of passing a State-required certification or licensing test or tests in reading, writing, mathematics, and other areas of the basic elementary school curriculum); or
(ii) a middle or secondary school teacher who is new to the profession, means that the teacher holds at least a bachelor's degree and has demonstrated a high level of competency in each of the academic subjects in which the teacher teaches by —
(I) passing a rigorous State academic subject test in each of the academic subjects in which the teacher teaches (which may consist of a passing level of performance on a State-required certification or licensing test or tests in each of the academic subjects in which the teacher teaches); or
(II) successful completion, in each of the academic subjects in which the teacher teaches, of an academic major, a graduate degree, coursework equivalent to an undergraduate academic major, or advanced certification or credentialing; and
(C) when used with respect to an elementary, middle, or secondary school teacher who is not new to the profession, means that the teacher holds at least a bachelor's degree and —
(i) has met the applicable standard in clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (B), which includes an option for a test; or
(ii) demonstrates competence in all the academic subjects in which the teacher teaches based on a high objective uniform State standard of evaluation that —
(I) is set by the State for both grade appropriate academic subject matter knowledge and teaching skills;
(II) is aligned with challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards and developed in consultation with core content specialists, teachers, principals, and school administrators;
(III) provides objective, coherent information about the teacher's attainment of core content knowledge in the academic subjects in which a teacher teaches;
(IV) is applied uniformly to all teachers in the same academic subject and the same grade level throughout the State;
(V) takes into consideration, but not be based primarily on, the time the teacher has been teaching in the academic subject;
(VI) is made available to the public upon request; and
(VII) may involve multiple, objective measures of teacher competency.

Institution of Higher Education

As defined in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:^[3]

The term institution of higher education' has the meaning given that term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965.

Limited English Proficient

As defined in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:^[3]

The term limited English proficient', when used with respect to an individual, means an individual —
(A) who is aged 3 through 21;
(B) who is enrolled or preparing to enroll in an elementary school or secondary school;
(C)(i) who was not born in the United States or whose native language is a language other than English;
(ii)(I) who is a Native American or Alaska Native, or a native resident of the outlying areas; and
(II) who comes from an environment where a language other than English has had a significant impact on the individual's level of English language proficiency; or
(iii) who is migratory, whose native language is a language other than English, and who comes from an environment where a language other than English is dominant; and
(D) whose difficulties in speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language may be sufficient to deny the individual —
(i) the ability to meet the State's proficient level of achievement on State assessments described in section 1111(b)(3);
(ii) the ability to successfully achieve in classrooms where the language of instruction is English; or
(iii) the opportunity to participate fully in society.

Local Educational Agency

As defined by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:^[3]

(A) IN GENERAL- The term local educational agency' means a public board of education or other public authority legally constituted within a State for either administrative control or direction of, or to perform a service function for, public elementary schools or secondary schools in a city, county, township, school district, or other political subdivision of a State, or of or for a combination of school districts or counties that is recognized in a State as an administrative agency for its public elementary schools or secondary schools.
(B) ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL AND DIRECTION- The term includes any other public institution or agency having administrative control and direction of a public elementary school or secondary school.
(C) BIA SCHOOLS- The term includes an elementary school or secondary school funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs but only to the extent that including the school makes the school eligible for programs for which specific eligibility is not provided to the school in another provision of law and the school does not have a student population that is smaller than the student population of the local educational agency receiving assistance under this Act with the smallest student population, except that the school shall not be subject to the jurisdiction of any State educational agency other than the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
(D) EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCIES- The term includes educational service agencies and consortia of those agencies.
(E) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY- The term includes the State educational agency in a State in which the State educational agency is the sole educational agency for all public schools.

Mentoring

As defined by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:^[3]

The term mentoring', except when used to refer to teacher mentoring, means a process by which a responsible adult, postsecondary student, or secondary school student works with a child to provide a positive role model for the child, to establish a supportive relationship with the child, and to provide the child with academic assistance and exposure to new experiences and examples of opportunity that enhance the ability of the child to become a responsible adult.

Native American and Native American Language

As defined by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:^[3]

The terms Native American and Native American language have the same meaning given those terms in section 103 of the Native American Languages Act of 1990.

Other Staff

As defined by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:^[3]

The term other staff' means pupil services personnel, librarians, career guidance and counseling personnel, education aides, and other instructional and administrative personnel.

Outlying Area

As defined in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:^[3]

The term outlying area' means the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and for the purpose of section 1121(b) and any other discretionary grant program under this Act, includes the freely associated states of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau until an agreement for the extension of United States education assistance under the Compact of Free Association for each of the freely associated states becomes effective after the date of enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.