Guest blog: Steven Baule, Superintendent of the Muncie Community Schools in Muncie, Indiana: Recently, I was listening to a group of parents talk about how schools can be more welcoming to them. One of the key issues they raised was the difficulty in navigating the alphabet soup of educational acronyms and other terminology that schools use. A good glossary of educational terminology can be found at The Great Schools site. Find a list of special education acronyms at the Disability Rights and Educational Defense Fund Site. North Carolina’s Department of Education has a good list of acronyms for parents, as does The National School District in National City, California. Similarly, it is important to define these terms for new teachers and other staff, especially for IT acronyms that are used in slightly different ways by various parts of the organization. LMS, SIS, and CMS are examples of terms that are sometimes used without understanding what differentiates each type of system. Consider including lists of these terms for parents and staff on your school’s website. As we transition to ESSA from NCLB under the umbrella of the ESEA, it is important to remember to explain ourselves to those not used to educational jargon.
