SOL Day 13: The Alphabet Soup of Education

As any teacher will tell you, Education is a constant navigation of any number of acronyms, abbreviations, and initiatives. The Alphabet Soup of Education will make even the most seasoned
teacher's head spin. Thanks to a couple of those handy dandy acronyms, I spent the day today with a couple of more acronyms, doing assessments. So, here's a rundown of some of the acronyms I have become familiar with over the course of the last several years as a teacher. Some of them you, as teachers, will be familiar with. Some are unique to my state and some are only familiar to those in my district.

OTES: Ohio Teacher Evaluation System
SLO: Student Learning Outcome (or Objective, I'm not really sure.)
IEP: Individual Education Plan
IAT: Intervention Assistance Team
IPDP: Individual Professional Development Plan
LPDC: Local Professional Development Committee
HEA: Hilliard Education Association
OEA: Ohio Education Association
NEA: National Education Association
ODE: Ohio Department of Education
PD: Professional Development
SMART Goal: Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely
F&P: Fountas and Pinnell
DMA: Developmental Math Assessment
DSA: Developmental Spelling Assessment
OAA: Ohio Achievement Assessment
OGT: Ohio Graduation Test
ADD: Attention Deficit Disorder
ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
ELL: English Language Learners
AYP: Adequate Yearly Progress
HQT: Highly Qualified Teacher
LD: Learning Disabled
LEP: Limited English Proficiency
ELA: English Language Arts
NCLB: No Child Left Behind
PTO: Parent Teacher Organization
SACC: School-Age Child Care

SLP: Speech Language Pathologist

STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

I'm sure there are many more that I have missed or forgotten about. But, as I said previously, the amount of acronyms just makes my head spin.