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acronyms and abbreviations

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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A

ABE: Adult Basic Education
ACT: American College Testing - An alternative test to the SAT that students take as a precursor to college/university admission.
ADD: Attention Deficit Disorder
ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
AICE: Advanced International Certificate of Education program - An advanced academic pre-university curriculum for students. The AICE Diploma is based on passing six advanced level exams, one from each of three curriculum areas- math and science, languages, and arts and humanities.
AIP: Academic Improvement Plan
AP: Advanced Placement - The AP program enables high school students to complete college-level courses for college placement and/or credit.
AUP: Acceptable Use Policy
AYP: Adequate Yearly Progress - Required under the federal No Child Left Behind law, AYP provides another way to measure school performance. To meet AYP, a school must meet target goals for each group of students of 40 or more. Target goals are set annually by the state for reading and mathematics at grades 3-8 and 10, and for attendance rates or graduation rates as well. AYP is an all-or-nothing model. If a school misses one target, it does not make AYP. The long-term goal of AYP is to have every school at 100 percent student proficiency by 2013-14.

B

C

CHAMP: Conversation, Help, Activity, Movement, Participation
CPT: College Placement Test

D

DAC: District Advisory Council - A countywide, School Board advisory group made up of a representative group of citizens, including individuals from a number of schools across the county.
DCC PTAs/PTSAs: Duval County Council PTAs/PTSAs - The Duval County Council is the district level PTA to which all local units (school PTAs and PTSAs) belong as members. Click here to learn more about DCC PTAs/PTSAs.
DCFS: Department of Children and Family Services
DCPS: Duval County Public Schools
DCSB: Duval County School Board - Click here to visit the School Board's home page.
DJJ: Department of Juvenile Justice - Click here to visit the DJJ site.
DNE: Did Not Enter
DOE: Department of Education - Click here to visit the Florida Department of Education site.
DPP: Dropout Prevention Program - Click here to visit the Alternative Education/Safety Net Program's site that includes Dropout Prevention.

E

ECHS: Early College High School
ESE: Exceptional Students Education - Students with physical or mental disabilities, and gifted students. Click here to visit the ESE site.
ESOL: English Speakers of Other Languages - Click here to visit the ESOL site.

F

FCAT: Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test- A statewide standardized test. Students are now required to explain their math answers and write short essays on reading questions. This is used by the state to assign schools individual letter grades. Click here to learn more about FCAT.
FDLE: Florida Department of Law Enforcement
FDLRS: Florida Diagnostics & Learning Resource System - 904 346 4601
FDOE or FLDOE: Florida Department of Education - Click here to visit the Florida Department of Education site.
FISH: Florida Inventory of School Houses - State DOE calculated permanent building capacity.
FTE: Full-Time Equivalent - Usually one student with no special needs, used by state officials to determine how much money is allocated to school districts from the legislature.

G

GED: Graduation Educational Development test - A test taken by students in order to receive a General Equivalency Diploma in lieu of a regular high school diploma.
GGD: Grade Gathering Documents
GPA: Grade Point Average

H

HSCT: High School Competency Test - This test has now been replaced by the FCAT. The HSCT was previously the test that ninth-grade students were required to pass in order to graduate from high school.

I

IB: International Baccalaureate program - The IB Diploma Program is a demanding pre-university course of students that has earned a reputation for rigorous assessment. It is designed for highly motivated high school students.
IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Act - This federal act requires all states to develop alternate assessments for students with disabilities for whom the standard statewide assessment program is not appropriate.
IEP: Individual Education Plan - A document which explains precisely what special-needs students have to learn and what they should know by the end of each school year. In addition, it lists what school they will attend and the services to be provided by the school.; Individualized Education Program - The IEP is a written statement for a student with a disability that is developed, at least annually, by a team of professionals knowledgeable about the student and the parent. The plan describes the strengths of the child and the concerns of the parents for enhancing the education of their child, and when, where, and how often services will be provided. The IEP is required by federal law for all exceptional children and must include specific information about how the student will be served and what goals he or she should be meeting.
ISSP: In School Suspension Program

J

K

L

LEP: Limited English Proficient - Students whose first language is one other than English and who need language assistance to participate fully in the regular curriculum.

M

N

NAEP: National Assessment of Educational Progress
NBCT: National Board Certified Teachers - Click here to visit the NBCT site.
NCEE: National Center on Education and the Economy - Also known as the "Nation's Report Card," NAEP assesses the educational achievement of elementary and secondary students in various subject areas. It provides the best data for comparing the performance of students in Florida to that of their peers across the nation.
NMSQT: National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test
NRT: Norm-Referenced Test
NCLB: No Child Left Behind - NCLB is the more recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Authorization Act and represents a sweeping change in the federal government's role in local public education. NCLB has a variety of goals, but the most dominant ones are for every school to be at 100 percent proficiency by 2013-14 as measured by student achievement on state tests and for every child to be taught by a "Highly Qualified" teacher. The new law emphasizes new standards for teachers and new consequences for Title I schools that do not meet student achievement standards for two or more consecutive years. For more information on NCLB, please go to http://www.fldoe.org/NCLB/.

O

P

PSAT: Pre-Scholastic Assessment Test - The PSAT is normally taken by high school juniors as a practice test for the SAT. Some schools use the PSAT as a diagnostic tool to identify areas where students may need additional assistance or placement in more rigorous courses. Click here for more information about the PSAT.
PTA: Parent Teacher Association - Click here to visit the National PTA site. Click here to learn more about the Duval County Council of PTAs/PTSAs.
PTSA: Parent Teacher Student Association

Q

R

S

SAC: School Advisory Council - Click here to visit the SAC web page.
SDM: Shared Decision Making
SIP: School Improvement Plan - A plan that includes strategies for improving student performance, how and when improvements will be implemented, use of state funds, requests for waivers, etc. Plans are in effect for no more than three years.
SPP: Student Progression Plan - Click here to go to the DCPS student progression plan.
SRO: School Resource Officer - A law enforcement officer assigned to contribute to the security of school campuses.

T

TDE: Temporary Duty Elsewhere
Title I A: Title I A is a federal funding program for schools to help students who are behind academically or at risk of falling behind. Funding is based on the number of low-income children in a school, generally those eligible for the free lunch program. Title I money supplements state and district funds.
Title III: Title III is the section of No Child Left Behind that provides funding and addresses English language acquisition and standards and accountability requirements for limited English proficient students.
Title IX: Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 bans sexual discrimination in schools receiving federal funds, whether it is in academics or athletics.
TTT: Transition to Teaching - The Transition to Teaching program is a federal Department of Education program. TTT recruits, trains and provides support for non-education majors who are hired to teach math, science or exceptional student education (ESE). Click here to visit the TTT site.

U

UbD: Understanding by Design
UPK: Universal Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (also known as VPK) - Click here to learn more about Universal Voluntary Pre-K in Duval County. Click here to visit the state Universal Voluntary Pre-K site.

V

VPK: Universal Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (also known as UPK) - Click here to learn more about Universal Voluntary Pre-K in Duval County. Click here to visit the state Universal Voluntary Pre-K site.

W

X

Y

Z

ZIP: Zeroing In on Prevention - A substance use and violence prevention/intervention program. The ZIP Program is designed for kindergarten through twelfth grade students to provide instructional objectives and intervention strategies in addressing violence prevention and substance use. Zip is based on a "no use" philosophy. The program consists of five components: prevention, intervention, support services, community involvement and evaluation. The major portion of the prevention component is the comprehensive health education program.