To be considered a competent educator, there are almost 2000 strategies, concepts, and terms that you must know. However, since teachers wear so many hats, who has the time to learn them all? Don’t worry; we have you covered. In this series, we will discuss all the teaching and learning strategies, concepts, and terms that you need to know to be considered an effective educator. There are over 70 articles in this series, so pace yourself. We recommend reading one piece per weekday, which will allow you to complete the series in three to four months. We hope you enjoy it.
Click here to read all the articles in this series.
Data Categories Categories such as intelligence, academic talents, drive and creativity which are included in Matrix identification models.
Data Masking The process of concealing or encrypting certain information in school performance or assessment datasets and reports to protect the privacy of education stakeholders.
Data Suppression The process of removing or deleting certain information in school performance or assessment datasets and reports to protect the privacy of education stakeholders.
Data-based Decision Making The process of acquiring and analyzing data, then using it to make decisions. For example, expanding the use of a piloted learning tool to an entire grade level, school or school district only if it can be shown by pre- and post-assessments to improve student mastery.
Day Nurseries Group care programs for infants and young children with working parents which focused on basic care.
Dean The leader of a division of an institution of higher education.
Debriefing A stage in problem-based learning, occurring after students have proposed one or more solutions, in which they revisit the clues they have gathered from their responses, analyze questions they have subsequently generated, and discuss in detail their paths in reaching the solution(s).
Decentralized System Refers to an organizational structure where decision making and authority, particularly with regards to finances and policy, are transferred away from state and district administrators and progressively handed over to schools. This facilitates more efficient and relevant administration.
Decentration When a child understands that events in the world take place and are not under their own control. They should also understand that these events do not require their involvement. Decentration is a part of the tertiary circular reactions.
Decodable Text Text that consists of systematic sound-spelling connections based on frequency and phonic principles.
Decode The capacity to view letters and decipher the “code” of the letters to make it a word.
Deconstruction Method Is a process of criticizing literary text, a philosophical text, or political theory. It entails a breakdown of the rational purposes, or logos, of earlier Western philosophy that was believed to govern the universe.
Deculturalization Is a term denoting the loss of “home culture” that occurs when immigrants achieve complete assimilation. This will generally happen across a generational gap, causing difficulties for both the deculturized children and their culturally intact extended family members.
Deductive Reasoning Is reasoning that allows a person to think from general principles to a specific event.
Deductive Teaching A didactic style of instruction in which a teacher presents a generality or rule with the expectation that students will apply it to specific scenarios.
Deferred Imitation When a child watches an action, commits it to memory, and repeats it later on. Their imitation improves because he works through the action mentally before physically performing it.
Deferred Judgement An atmosphere in which ideas are not immediately evaluated, but instead were new and revolutionary ideas can be suggested and considered without criticism.
Deficiency Needs The fundamental requirements, identified by Maslow, for physical and psychological well-being.
Deficit Model A theory used to explain the differences between genders in a career path. It is based on the idea that women tend to have fewer opportunities presented to them for more successful careers.
Definition Clue A type of context clue that ties an unknown word to a known word or group of words.
Definition Poems A type of poetry used to represent a particular topic and includes nine specific descriptors.
Degree A diploma that is conferred to students by a school after they complete their degree program.
Delay of Gratification or Deferred Gratification The ability to postpone gift or treat to reap greater rewards in the future.
Democracy A government where the people maintain the power and exercise it either directly or indirectly by voting for their representatives.
Department A division of a university that is made of support staff, professors, etc. that provide instruction in a specific degree program, such as the education department.
Departmentalized Scheduling Refers to the teachers teaching only their subject area to multiple classes.
Derived Score A standardized test score obtained by analyzing one student’s raw score about the results of students’ of known characteristics on the test.
Description A text pattern that illuminates the characteristics, facts, and features of a specific topic. Descriptions can apply to general topics, people, events, or objects.
Descriptive Timeline An extended and more expressive version of the traditional timeline, which encourages students to associate the chronology of dates with the details of specific developments.
Design Thinking A problem-solving technique that focuses on solutions.
Desist Approach This classroom management approach is often used due to its easy implementation. Unlike the self-discipline, where students are responsible, the desist approach makes teachers the responsible party. This approach can be viewed as a power system, because teachers have the power, and they set the specific rules to give students discipline and correct student behaviors. The approach focuses on assertive discipline and behavior modification, as outlined next.
Development Counseling Program A therapeutic counseling model to support growth among gifted students by creating rich and supportive environments at home and at school.
Developmental Continuum A tool that outlines student progress over time and is often used as an alternative grading mechanism to traditional evaluation systems such as numeric or letter grades.
Developmental Delay This broad issue can cover any possible milestone that a child doesn’t meet according to the expected timeline, including speech or movement. While children with developmental delays can still be successful, it will require some additional help from patient teachers. Educators would do well to research the available assistive technology that can help to bolster a child’s education and encourage academic success.
Developmental Literacy A form of literacy instruction that takes a child’s stage of development in consideration. In essence, it provides developmentally appropriate literacy instruction.
Developmental Milestones A set of skills or age-specific activities that early childhood experts believe that the majority of children should be able to do within a certain age range.
Developmental or Remedial Courses Courses designed to help students who are not ready to tackle a college level academic subject make the transition from high school to higher education. To determine if students will be required to take these courses, schools have been known to use ACT/SAT sub-scores or placement tests.
Developmental Rubric A rubric that is developed to assess various aspects of student development.
Developmental Screening A method for measuring a student’s developmental skills across a broad range of topics. This can include assessing whether anti-social behavior exhibited by the student warrants further evaluation and intervention.
Developmental Spelling When children know that spelling is a process.
Developmental Validity The act of determining whether the skills being measured are developmentally suitable for the child.
Developmentally Appropriate Behaviors, activities, practices, and environments that have modified to mirror the age, characteristics and developmental progress of a certain group of children.
