Abstract: Used to describe something that is difficult to fully or easily understand because it is intangible or theoretical and is not associated with a particular instance or concrete example. The concept of "hope" is more abstract than the concept of "house."

Academy Modules: Modules developed for students in the three content areas are referred to as Academy modules. The instructor's modules are created for orientation purposes and are not intended for professional development. Rather, they are designed to convey information about Academy modules and how they can be integrated into teacher education programs.

Adult illiteracy: Inefficiencies in reading and writing that continue into adulthood.

Advance organizer: Oral or written statements at the beginning of a lesson intended to facilitate learning and comprehension of new material.

Adverb: A word, usually ending in ly, that enhances a verb, an adjective, a sentence, a clause, or another adverb.

Assessment: The process of gathering information to help an individual make decisions. In education, the information gathered should help a teacher make decisions about appropriate instructional goals, objectives, teaching methods, curriculum, and program placement.

Background knowledge: A personal reservoir of information on a variety of topics; information retained in one's long-term memory.

Choral reading: Reading aloud as a group either in a classroom setting or by as few as two people. Choral reading helps to build oral skills by allowing readers to hear what they are reading and thus make the appropriate changes necessary for fluent reading.

Cognition: The process of knowing by thinking, comprehending, analyzing, or evaluation. Examples: Students use the cognitive process to be able to understand or gain meaning from spoken or written material by reasoning, making inferences, seeing relationships, etc.

Cognitive ability: Ability with regard to thinking, comprehending, analyzing, and evaluating.

Cohesion: Refers to the relationship of ideas within a text and occurs when a speaker or author enables the listener or reader to make logical connections between and among the ideas presented.. Example: By using the word "because" (a conjunctive cohesive tie) in the following sentence, the author has helped the reader understand the causal relationship between the two events mentioned. "We missed the entire wedding ceremony because we were unable to find the car keys."

Comprehension instruction: A process of teaching that enables students to better understand what they are being taught.

Connected instruction: Instruction that continually shows and discusses with the students the relationship between what has been learned, what is being learned, and what will be learned.

Considerate text: Text that is well-written and well-organized, thereby making it easy to understand.

Content Areas: OSEP has specified three content areas within the teacher education curriculum for the Academy to focus on. The content areas include reading, positive behavioral supports and technology in education. These are the content areas from which research-based interventions will be selected and transformed into instructional modules.

Content acquisition: The process of gaining information that is either being taught or experienced.

Content literacy: Development of the listening, speaking, reading and writing skills necessary to learn in each of the academic disciplines.

Continuous assessment: An element of responsive instruction in which the teacher regularly monitors student performance to determine how closely it matches the instructional goal. Ideally, these checks of student performance should occur after as many practice sessions as possible.

Corrective feedback: Information provided by the teacher to the student about specific aspects of performance, including the nature of errors or difficulties encountered as well as suggested actions for repair.

Debugging strategy: A plan or method of repairing reading problems by reworking the strategy being used or finding a new strategy to use.

Decode: To relate a sequence of letters in print to their corresponding sounds, allowing the reader to translate the sequence into a word.

Decoding: Relating a sequence of letters in print to their corresponding sounds, allowing the reader to translate the sequence into a word.

Deportment: The manner in which one carries oneself; behavior.

Direct instruction: A specific way of teaching in which instructional goals and content are made obvious to the students.

Directed Questions: A series of questions about lesson content has been included as a feature in each module. A question is presented. Once students enter their response they are able to access exemplary answers. This allows them to compare their response to responses prepared by the Academy staff.

Echo reading: A supportive activity where the teacher reads and then has a student read the same sentence. This helps to build reading fluency.

Efficacious: Able to produce a preferred outcome or result.

Elaborated feedback: An element of responsive instruction in which the results of student performance on a practice task are shared with the student to help him/her understand what was done correctly and what specific things need to be targeted for improvement during the next practice exercise.

Elaborative language: Language that is more complex and detailed than the usual public language, thereby expanding the meaning and context of words.

Explicit: Completely and clearly expressed without ambiguity or vagueness; fully developed. Example: Explicit instructions would leave no doubt in your mind about what you were to do. Every part would be "spelled out."

Expository text: A collection of written words that gives information or explains something. Most classroom textbooks are expository - science, social studies, health, etc.

Extended clause: A clause (independent or dependent) that follows connectives such as 'and', 'but', 'for', 'which', and 'where' in a sentence.

Figurative language: Expressed thoughts and emotions using language not intended to be interpreted in a literal sense; words that depict non-literal meanings. Examples : "This car is a lemon!" "It's raining cats and dogs."

Fluency: In the area of reading, the skill of reading with accuracy, speed, and ease.

Goal-specific strategies: Procedures readers use to process specific material. Examples include predicting the outcomes, self-questioning, analyzing the text, visual imagery, and using graphic organizers.

Graphic organizer: An organized, visual representation of information used to facilitate comprehension and remembering; a visual depiction.

Higher-order sequencing strategies: Strategies that help the user put a strategic package together.

Inappropriate text: Text that is not written at a student's instructional level and is not appropriate for the interests of the student.

Incompatible instruction: A method of instruction that does not match a student or students' learning needs and therefore does not result in learning.

Incongruous: Being inconsistent or not agreeing; incompatible.

Inconsiderate text: Text that is poorly written, poorly organized, or both, thereby making it difficult to understand.

Inferential comprehension: Comprehension that involves using reasoning- drawing conclusions about the relationships between or among bits of information that are not explicitly stated. It requires relating background knowledge to what is read or applying knowledge about text structure to aid comprehension. Examples: Compare the following two sentences: 1) "The roads were icy; Mike drove very carefully." and 2) "Mike drove very carefully because the roads were icy." Comprehending the first involves drawing a conclusion about the relationship between icy roads and driving carefully (inference); the second sentence demands only literal comprehension because the relationship is explained within the context of the sentence.

Informative feedback: Information provided by the teacher to the student about the nature of his/her performance, e.g., what was correct and incorrect.

Informative instruction: A way of teaching systematically in which the teacher ensures that the student understands how s/he is learning, how s/he can plan and control his/her own learning at each step of the learning process, and why this is important.

Intensive instruction: A way of directing student attention in which sufficient time is spent in teacher-guided interactive learning activities and a high degree of goal-directed student engagement leads to student mastery and generalization.

Language comprehension: The ability to use personal background knowledge, plus knowledge and skills related to language usage to enable understanding and comprehension of language. Language comprehension is a prerequisite to listening comprehension and reading comprehension.

Language development: Continued improvement and growth in spoken and written language over time.

Language disorder: Impairment in the process of comprehending or using written or spoken language.

Language status: The position or level of a person in regard to his/her development of language.

Language structure: The pattern or organization of letters in words, words in sentences, sentences in paragraphs, and paragraphs in whole texts, often specific to a particular language. Knowledge of language structures plays a key role in the comprehension of words, sentences, and texts.

Lexicon: A compilation of words and their meanings in a book (dictionary) or stored in a person's memory (vocabulary). We each have our own personal lexicon or mental dictionary.

Linguistic skills: Abilities related to using the subsystems of language (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics) for communication.

Linguistics: Relating to languages or the study of human speech and speech sounds.

Literacy: The ability to read, write, listen, and speak in ways that enable communication, enhance understanding of ideas, and enrich lives.

Literacy acquisition: The process of gaining and fully comprehending different types of information.

Literacy development: Developing the ability to read, write, listen, and speak in ways that enable communication, enhance understanding of ideas, and enrich lives.

Literal comprehension: Understanding explicitly- and clearly- stated written or spoken words.

Literal question: An inquiry, based on clearly stated or obvious information.

Matthew effects: Briefly stated, the effects of a cycle, in which students with learning disabilities may find themselves. Poor decoding skills limit their ability to advance to more complex texts. This, in turn, limits their exposure to the content, as well as the more complex structure, of texts that are necessary for future learning.

Menu: There are menus for each level and lesson in an Academy module. Links to the level menus appear in the center of the menubar. Access any level menu by clicking the level titles in the center of the menubar. Click the up arrow (top right) to access the menu for the current level or to go to the next higher menu level. For example, if you are viewing a page in a lesson the up arrow takes you to the current Lesson menu then to the menu for all Lessons then to the Table of Contents (ToC) for the entire module.

Metacognitive components: The elements that make up the way people reflect on their own thought processes. The three major components are metacognitive knowledge, self-regulation, and motivation.

Metacognitive knowledge: The knowledge of how to monitor, adjust, and direct one's own mental processes for a desired result. In reading, knowledge of how to monitor, adjust, and direct one's reading strategies to ensure reading comprehension.

Metacognitive skills: Skills that deal with a person's reflection on his or her own thinking processes. By using metacognitive skills, readers are able to make judgments about whether or not they are understanding what they are reading.

Metacognitive strategies: Orderly methods or plans to monitor, regulate or direct one's mental processes. Example: If you have figured out for yourself the best way to study or prepare for a take-home exam, you have developed a metacognitive strategy. Congratulations!

Metalinguistic skills: Referring to language awareness; skills that enable us to reflect consciously on the nature and properties of language; the process of being able to think and talk about the use of language.

Methodology: A range or collection of procedures and techniques.

Mnemonic device: Creative device used to assist or intended to assist memory. Example: HOMES gives us the beginning letters of the Great Lakes, Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.

Monitoring strategies: In the context of reading, procedures used by readers to assess if they understand what they are reading and to decide if they should continue, discontinue, or modify a strategy being used. Examples of monitoring strategies are self-questioning, paraphrasing, and summarizing. Monitoring strategies can be used with spoken language as well as with written language.

Morphological skills: Abilities that enable readers to deal with formation of words and the sounds that are used to form them. The meaning of a word changes when different parts are added or removed. For example, the meaning of 'cat' changes when a 's' is added and the word becomes 'cats'.

Morphology: With regard to language, the structure and forms of words; the pattern of word formation. The related term, morpheme, is a linguistic unit that conveys meaning. You already know a lot about morphemes and the morphology of words because you know that by adding 'ness' or 'less' to a root or base word, you can make a new word. In addition, you know that by adding 's' or 'es' to a singular noun, you can make the word plural and thereby change the meaning, if only slightly. By putting two words together ('dog' and 'house'), you can form the compound word 'doghouse'.

Motivation: A plan or state of mind that enables one to move toward a desirable goal.

Multiple predication: The part of a sentence showing the subject's state of being or action, formed with verb phrases, compound verbs or predicates. Sentences with multiple predication can be problematic for students who are unable to recognize or understand signal words that connect, order, or relate these parts of the sentence.

Narrative text: A collection of written words that tells a story and has a setting, characters, and a plot. Examples of narrative writing: Little Women, A Tale of Two Cities.

Navigation: Navigation refers to the technical process of moving from one feature to another in an online module. The navigation system for Academy modules allows students to follow a critical path, but also to exercise flexibility when they wish to vary from the normal path of progressing through a module.

Non-verbal cues: Cohesive devices, other than speaking or writing, which convey meaning. Non-verbal cues include facial expressions and body language.

Paraphrasing: A process that involves taking information from reading or listening and rephrasing the information in one's own words in a way that personalizes the information and can facilitate one's ability to understand and remember.

Phoneme-grapheme correspondence: The connection between a phoneme, the smallest unit of speech that serves to distinguish one utterance from another, and the symbols that represent each phoneme.

Phonemic rules: Patterns of the relationships among phonemes (the smallest speech sounds that affect the meaning of a word) and graphemes (the letter or letters that correspond to phonemes).

Phonology: The system or science of speech sounds in a language focusing especially on the history and theory of sound changes.

Plateau: In reading, to reach a certain level and not progress much further.

Post organizer: Short statement or statements at the end of a lesson intended to facilitate learning and retention of instructional material. The statements might summarize what has been learned, tell how the learning can be used, what the next steps will be, etc.

Pragmatics: Part of the structure of language, along with phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics, which involves knowing how language is used differently in a variety of contexts.

Proficient readers: Individuals who effectively and independently use skills and strategies to construct meaning from print.

Reading comprehension: The process or result of gaining intended and personal meaning from written material.

Reading disability: Condition characterized by reading performance that is significantly below what would be expected for an individual's age and reading potential.

Reciprocal relationship: A situation or state in which two parties are dependent on each other.

Repertoire: All of one's experiences or one's expertise in a particular area.

Responsive instruction: A way of making teaching decisions in which a student's reaction to instruction directly shapes how future instruction is provided.

Scaffolded instruction: An instructional strategy whereby the teacher provides just enough assistance (explanation, instruction, modeling, guided practice, feedback, etc.) to students to allow them to do a task that they would not be able to do without their assistance. The assistance is gradually withdrawn until the student is able to do the task on his own.

Scaffolding: A way of teaching systematically in which the teacher provides to students, early in the learning process, a significant amount of support in the form of modeling, prompts, direct explanations, and targeted questions. Instruction during this phase is primarily teacher-guided. Then, as students begin to acquire mastery of the targeted objectives, direct teacher supports are reduced and the major responsibility for learning is transferred to the student. When students assume more responsibility, it is referred to as student-guided learning.

Self-efficacy: With reference to reading, the belief in one's own competency to perform specific reading tasks.

Self-knowledge: In the context of reading, an awareness and knowledge of what one needs to do to understand and retain information.

Self-questioning: Identifying cues from information heard or read that make a learner wonder about who, what, when, where, which, why, and how and ask personalized questions that relate to the information. The learner then reads to find the answers to these questions. Self-questioning can facilitate understanding and remembering. Good readers automatically self-question; weaker readers need to be taught to do this.

Self-regulation: The process of analyzing a reading task in order to select an approach, then monitoring the course of reading, and, if necessary, adjusting or revising the strategic approach.

Semantic skills: Those skills that enable the reader to understand the meaning in language.

Semantic web: A visual presentation of significantly related words.

Semantics: Part of the structure of language, along with phonology, morphology, syntax, and pragmatics, which involves understanding the meaning of words, sentences, and texts.

Sound-symbol correspondence: The association of a phoneme (sound) with a grapheme (letter).

Speech-language pathologist: A trained professional who helps students who have language and speech deficiencies.

Strategic instruction: An educational approach aimed at providing rules or guidelines to help individuals approach tasks more effectively, efficiently, and independently.

Strategy: An individual's approach to a task; how a person thinks and acts when planning, executing, and evaluating the performance of a task and its outcomes.

Strategy acquisition: A method where one acquires a desired approach to a task. This includes how the person thinks and acts when planning, executing and evaluating the performance of the task and its outcomes.

Strategy-oriented approach: A way of teaching where strategies, or an individual's approach to a task, are taught to the students. Strategic instruction is a strategy-oriented approach to teaching.

Structured instruction: Instruction that involves systematically teaching information that has been "chunked," or separated, into smaller and more manageable pieces.

Summarizing: Concisely synthesizing the essential ideas of a text or passage.

Synonymity: Using words or phrases which are recognized as representing equivalent ideas or interpretations.

Syntactical skill: The ability to understand and to use the order or pattern of words within phrases, clauses, and sentences whereby the relations among the words are indicated. For example, in English, verbs usually follow nouns, and adjectives usually precede nouns.

Syntax: The ordering of words within phrases, clauses, and sentences whereby the relations among the words are indicated. For example, in English, verbs usually follow nouns, and adjectives usually precede nouns: Dorothy followed the yellow brick road.

Synthesize: To integrate, or bring together, different pieces that, once joined, create a whole.

Systematic instruction: Instruction that is carefully organized, connected to past and future learning, scaffolded so that students need decreasing support, and informative so that students become self-directed learners.

Table of Contents: Each module includes a general Table of Contents (ToC) covering the entire module. Click "ToC" in the top right of the menubar to access the Table of Contents

Technical text: Written material that has a distinctive vocabulary with specialized meanings and is related to a specific content field or discipline.

Text structure: The organizational framework of written material; the way ideas in a text are organized. Examples of some common patterns of expository text structure include description, sequence, cause/effect, and compare/contrast. Each structure has elements that are specific to it. For example, a narrative structure would include characters, a setting, a plot, a theme, etc.

Title I teachers: Teachers who typically teach children who are at high risk for learning difficulties. Title I teachers are part of a federally funded education program called Title I that was established to help these students overcome these difficulties.

Venn diagram: A graph or chart that uses circles to show relationships between different sets of information.

Vignette: A short and concise occurrence, event, or scene.

Visual imagery strategy: A strategic approach to aid comprehension and retention of information during which individuals create detailed pictures in their minds and link the images to the content being learned.

Visualizing: A learning strategy that involves mentally picturing objects or events in order to facilitate understanding and remembering.

Word consciousness: The process of recognizing a word from its symbol. Also, the ability to talk about and understand language.

World knowledge: Sometimes used as a synonym for "prior knowledge" - information stored in one's long-term memory; knowledge that comes from previous experience.