Leadership Glossary Terms

Advanced Placement (AP) Program—The AP program was started in 1955 and is administered by the College Board. AP programs offer high school students the option to take one or more college-level courses and possibly earn college credit upon successful completion of an end-of-course examination. The College Board provides general course guidelines and national exams for 35 college-level AP courses in 19 different subject areas. These courses include art history, biology, calculus, chemistry, foreign languages, and history. Source: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com.

Career Pathways—Career Pathways are broad groupings of careers that share similar characteristics and whose employment requirements call for many common interests, strengths, and competencies. Career Pathways provide a useful framework to aid both students and educators in making meaningful connections to the working world. Source: Michigan Department of Education.

Career and Technical Education (CTE)—Career and Technical Education is a planned program of courses and learning experiences that begins with exploration of career options, supports basic academic and life skills, and promotes high academic standards, leadership, preparation for industry-defined work, and continuing education. Source: Office of Career and Technical Education, Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth.

Tech-Prep—Tech-Prep is a nationwide, federally supported program emphasizing career and technical education and the creation of linkages between high schools and community colleges. At the federal level, Tech-Prep was designed to be a sequenced program of study that combines at least two years of high school and two years of postsecondary education. Tech-Prep programs are implemented by consortia of local education agencies and community colleges and typically begin during the 11th and 12th grades and continue into the first two years of college. Tech-Prep programs are designed to help students gain academic knowledge and technical skills and often earn college credit for their secondary coursework. Programs are intended to lead to an associate degree or a certificate in a specific career field, and ultimately, to high-wage, high-skill employment or advanced postsecondary training. Source: United States Department of Education.

Direct College Credit—Direct college credit courses provide students with the opportunity to take college-level courses in high school and are generally taught by college faculty. Source: Michigan Department of Education.

Dual Enrollment—The dual enrollment option allows juniors and seniors in high school to take one or more college-level classes at a college campus or online. These are generally courses not offered at a student’s high school or that do not fit into a student’s schedule. To be eligible to take a dual enrollment course, students must have a qualifying score on the ACT® PLAN, PSAT, or Michigan Merit Exam. Courses can count for high school credit, college credit, or both. Most or all costs are covered by the school district, but students must provide their own transportation. Source: Michigan Department of Education.

Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS)—DIBELS are a set of standardized, individually administered measures of early literacy development. DIBELS are designed to be short (one minute) fluency measures used to regularly monitor the development of pre-reading and early reading skills. Source: http://dibels.uoregon.edu.

Early/Middle College High Schools—Early/middle college high schools are designed to meet the needs of students who may do better in a non-traditional high school setting or are interested in being challenged. These programs provide students with both a high school diploma and up to 60 college credits, which are transferable to most state colleges and universities. Early/middle college high school programs may be career focused and usually are located on a college campus. These programs are created through a community collaboration between an intermediate or local school district and a community college. Enrollment in these schools can begin as early as ninth grade, with college courses beginning as early as tenth grade. Early/middle college high schools have several locations in Michigan. For a list of early/middle college high schools in Michigan, visit www.michigan.gov/highschool. Source: Michigan Department of Education.

International Baccalaureate (IB)—The IB diploma program is offered to students, ages 16 to 19, who attend an IB-designated school. IB programs offer students a demanding two-year curriculum measured by international assessments and widely accepted as college credit by colleges and universities. Costs are generally covered by the school district, but the costs associated with required assessments may or may not be covered. For a list of IB schools in Michigan, visit www.ibo.org. Source: Michigan Department of Education.

Online College Credit Courses—Online college credit courses provide “anytime, anywhere” learning experiences, access for students in geographically remote areas, and a rigorous college-level curriculum. Online college credit courses meet the online high school graduation requirement, expand or add Advanced Placement (AP) courses without the expense of adding on-site courses, address the needs of AP students with scheduling and/or physical challenges, and reduce the cost of offering small-enrollment AP classes. Source: Office of School Improvement, Michigan Department of Education.

School-Wide Information System (SWIS™)—SWIS is a Web-based information system designed to help school personnel to use office referral data to design school-wide and individual student interventions. The three primary elements of SWIS are: an efficient system for gathering information, a Web-based computer application for data entry and report generation, and a practical process for using information for decision making. Source: www.swis.org.

Web 2.0—Web 2.0 is a term often applied to a perceived ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of Web sites to a full-fledged computing platform serving Web applications to end users. Ultimately, Web 2.0 services are expected to replace desktop computing applications for many purposes. Source: Wikipedia, a user generated encyclopedia Web site found at Wikipedia.org.