Increasing Student Success Arendale Education Media

Language is not static. It flows like a river in response to the riverbank and the rocks that border and run beneath it. In the same way, glossaries are dynamic expressions of current language usage. Developmental education and learning assistance have changed dramatically in recent years, and so must also the language used to describe and define them. 
This glossary is useful for the wide field of educators involved with promoting student success. It provides precise language and definitions to use when communicating with peers and more effectively influencing administrators, legislators, and the media. Some of these glossary terms are emerging with frequent use while others are declining. This is why this glossary is not static and future editions will continue to reflect the changes in language. 
Based on advice from some of the reviewers to make this glossary more accessible to readers, I reorganized it into different topical categories rather than a traditional alphabetical order. I hope this format will not only make it easier to locate a particular glossary term, but also discover related terms in the same category. The nine glossary categories are: (a) teaching and learning process, (b) antiracism and racism, (c) assessment, (d) copyright and academic integrity, (e) pedagogies for teaching and learning, (f) program management, (g) student-to-student learning, (h) transitional courses and programs, and (i) less acceptable glossary terms.
This third edition of the glossary of developmental education and learning assistance terms has dramatically changed since the last edition 14 years ago. For that reason, the name of this glossary has changed and reflects its use in the wider education community. These terms could be useful for educators working in learning assistance, learning centers, developmental-level courses, first-year experience courses and programs, orientation courses and programs, federally-funded TRIO and other equity programs, and instructors teaching first-year and subsequent courses in the general course curriculum. In recognition of the expanded scope of this glossary and broader utility for other members involved with postsecondary education, the glossary title has become more inclusive, Essential Glossary for Increasing Postsecondary Student Success: Administrators, Faculty, Staff, and Policymakers.

Teaching and Learning Process
            
This general collection of teaching and learning processes encompasses all glossary terms that were not easily assigned into the other eight categories of this glossary. Check the other eight topical glossaries for relevant terms that apply to your work. A comprehensive glossary is The Greenwood Dictionary of Education (Collins & O’Brien, 2011). A sample of specialty glossaries are available online: 
●      disabilities (https://www.washington.edu/doit/glossary-disability-related-terms)
●      literacy (https://www.literacyworldwide.org/get-resources/literacy-glossary) 
●      reading (https://iowareadingresearch.org/reading-glossary), and 
●      writing (https://www.unl.edu/writing/glossary) 
 
academic advising
1. Definitions: (a) Conversation between a student and a faculty or staff member regarding progress towards completing a program of study aligned with the student’s life goals; and (b) In some advising models, students talk with a trained student for some issues regarding advising such as scheduling options or sometimes on issues before the students meet with a staff or faculty member. 
2. Examples: Career aspirations, selection of an academic program of study, course enrollment selection, identification of life goals, and developing education action plans.
3: Compare with ACADEMIC COACHING, MENTORING, and PEER EDUCATOR.
 
academic coaching
1. Definitions: (a) Students implement more effective strategies through guidance by an advanced peer or professional. The relationship is designed to model successful learning behaviors and create accountability of the student to their coach for higher academic results. This coaching occurs through a series of meetings during the academic term; and (b) ACADEMIC COACHING may be provided by a faculty member, staff member, or a trained student.
2. Examples: Identify learning preferences, habits of working, and difficulties or barriers to success.
3. Compare with ACADEMIC ADVISING, MENTORING and PEER EDUCATOR.
 
academic literacies
1. Definition: (a) Understanding, writing, listening, speaking, critical thinking, and habits of mind that foster academic achievement expected of college students; (b) Understanding a range of academic vocabulary in context; (c) Making meaning beyond the level of a sentence; and (d) Evaluating information to determine if it is fact or opinion and knowing what counts as evidence (Weideman, 2014).
2. Compare with DISCIPLINARY LITERACIES.
 
academic skills
See BASIC ACADEMIC SKILLS
 
academic survival skills
See BASIC ACADEMIC SKILLS and STUDY SKILLS
 
academic tenacity
1. Definition: “Non-cognitive factors that promote long-term learning and achievement can be brought together under the label ACADEMIC TENACITY. At its most basic level, it is about working hard, and working smart, for a long time. More specifically, it is about the mindsets and skills that allow students to look beyond short-term concerns to longer-term or higher-order goals, and withstand challenges and setbacks to persevere toward these goals (Dweck et al., 2014, p. 4).
2. Examples: “(a) Belong academically and socially, (b) See school as relevant to their future, (c) Work hard and can postpone immediate pleasures, (d) Not derailed by intellectual or social difficulties, (e) Seek out challenges, and (f) Remain engaged over the long haul” (Dweck et al., 2014, p. 4).
3. Compare with FIXED MINDSET, GRIT, GROWTH MINDSET, and SELF-REGULATED LEARNER.
 
achievement gap
1. Definitions: (a) Disparity of educational performance among the general student population, especially groups defined by socioeconomic status (SES), race/ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, (dis)ability, immigration status, and other demographic measures; and (b) Difference in standardized test score gaps may result in long-term gaps such as persistence towards graduation and workforce employment. 
2. Some educators argue

Teaching and Learning Process Part Two of Two picks up where the previous episode left off with terms related to the general area of teaching and learning. Other podcast episodes will be focused on more narrow topics of the glossary.

Antiracism and Racism
            
The following is an essential collection of terms related to antiracism and racism. More comprehensive glossaries on this topic are available from Center for Equity, Gender, and Leadership (2020), Diversity Advisory Council (n.d.), Georgetown University Library (2020), Institute for Democratic Renewal and Project Change Anti-Racism Institute (2019), Pokhrel et al., (2021), Race Forward (2015), Sue, Williams, & Owens (2021) and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (n.d.). Complete references to these glossaries and often an online link to them are found in the reference section at the end of this glossary.
 
ally
According to Pokhrel et al. (2021, pp. 77–78):
1. Definitions: (a) “A person who supports a group other than their own identities, such as gender, RACE, religion, and sex” (Berkner Boyt, 2020, para. 10); and (b) A person who acknowledges disadvantages and oppression of other groups and takes action to stand with them and oppose the oppression (Wenger, n.d., p. 164).
2. Examples: (a) Speaking up on behalf of people of color (POC) during conversations when others make disparaging comments, MICROAGGRESSION behaviors, jokes, or stereotypical statements whether  POC are  present or not (Davis, 1989); (b) Participating in meetings hosted by POC that raise awareness about issues of identity (racial, sexual, etc.); (c) Displaying posters that advocate for social justice on the learning center walls; (d) Displaying a welcome poster on the learning center wall with the word “welcome” in languages spoken by members of the student body; (e) Asking questions of POC “like ‘what do I need to know,’ ‘how can I help,’ and ‘what can we do together?’” (Ludema & Johnson, 2020, Don’t be paternalistic section); (f) Taking time to read books and watch videos on racial topics (history, slavery, systemic racism, etc.)  and  avoid asking POC to explain complex racial issues to you; (g) Marching in a Pride Parade to advocate for an  annual audit of pay equity (Ludema & Johnson, 2020, Do take ally-like actions section); (h) Taking actions that create an environment so that POC speak for themselves (Ludema & Johnson, 2020, Don’t speak for others section); (i) Responding when the leader of the campus LBGTQ affinity group contacts you to offer support to the goals of the affinity group for Black employees; (j) Using authority as the Resident Hall Assistant to confront students on the dorm floor who are dressed up as border patrol and migrants at the border and stop the activity, and using this incident as opportunity to inform all residents that this activity is not appropriate or acceptable learning opportunity (k) South Asian woman marching at various Black Lives Matter protests while holding up a sign saying “South Asians for Black Lives;” and (l) attending campus and social activities hosted by POC.
3. Compare with ANTIRACISM (verb), EQUALITY, EQUITY, and SOCIAL JUSTICE.
antiracism
According to Pokhrel et al. (2021, p. 78):
1. Definition: “The work of actively opposing racism by advocating for changes in political, economic, and social life. Anti-racism tends to be an individualized approach, and set up in opposition to individual racist behaviors and impacts” (Race Forward, 2015, p. 25).
2. Examples: (a) Report any acts of discrimination to the institution's Dean of Students or Title IX Officer; (b) Ensure the racial diversity of the professional staff and the student employees of the learning center equals or exceeds the diversity demographics of the student population; (c) Best practices in antiracist language and behavior is a part of all professional development and training sessions for staff and student employees of tutoring and small group study sessions.
3. Compare with ALLY, RACISM, SPACE RACISM, and SOCIAL JUSTICE.
 
assimilationist
According to Pokhrel et al. ( 2021, p. 79):
1. Definition: Describes the process that a dominant group makes invisible a sma

Assessment
            
These glossary terms are primarily related to student and program assessment. Some related terms are located under the Program Management category. More comprehensive glossaries of terms can be found in the Greenwood Dictionary of Education (Collins & O’Brien, 2011) and the Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation (Newcomer, Hatry, & Wholey, 2015). 

affective domain
1. Definition: “A part of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives for student attitudes, values, and emotional growth. The affective domain includes five basic categories: receiving, responding, valuing, organization, and characterization by a value” (Dembo, 1994. p. G-1).
2. Compare with COGNITIVE DOMAIN and METACOGNITIVE DOMAIN.
 
alternate assessment
1. Definition: “Examination of student progress through direct observation of student performance and judgment of learning products through a collection of authentic sources such as behavior, student presentations, and work” (Collins & O’Brien, 2011, p. 18).
2. Compare with ASSESSMENT, DIFFERENTIATED PLACEMENT, DIRECTED SELF-PLACEMENT, PLACEMENT, and PLACEMENT TESTING.
 
assessment
1. Definitions: (a) “Process of applying systematic formal and informal measures and techniques to ascertain students’ current competencies and abilities; (b) Process of determining students’ strengths and weaknesses in cognitive and affective areas for the purpose of generalized placement; (c) Act of assessing, or taking a measurement by counting, rating, or estimating the amount of skill, ability, or knowledge of some element of an individual or a program); (d) ASSESSMENT should be as objective as possible (value-free), as opposed to EVALUATION, which suggests that value has been added. Assessment does not assume, in advance, what is good, worthwhile, or desirable. In analogy to science, assessment is observation. Although objectivity is always relative, it is important to separate the measurement from the interpretation of its meaning” (Collins & O’Brien, 2011, p. 36); and (e) “While ‘ASSESSMENT’ means “measurement,” the term is increasingly used in the higher education context to refer to a systematic cycle of collecting and reviewing information about student learning. The complete cycle involves: clearly stating expected goals for student learning, offering learning experiences, measuring the extent to which students have achieved expected goals, and using the evidence collected to improve teaching and learning” (Office of the Provost, n.d., para. 1).
2. Examples: College entrance examination scores, scores on pretests for all students enrolled in a course, and graduation rates for students in a particular academic degree program.
3. Compare with ALTERNATE ASSESSMENT, CAUSATION and CORRELATION, DIFFERENTIATED PLACEMENT, DIRECT SELF-PLACEMENT, EVALUATION, PLACEMENT TESTING, PROGRAM GOAL, PROGRAM OBJECTIVE, RESEARCH, and SYSTEMIC SELF-STUDY.
 
backwash
1. Definition: Describing the positive or negative impact that an assessment of a specific skill has on whether that skill has been acquired.
2. Examples: (a) Instructors organize their class learning activities directly to prepare for high-stakes tests that can impact funding for the school; and (b) Supplemental learning topics are ignored to permit more time for the instructor to teach to the test.
 
baseline
1. Definitions: (a) Natural occurrence of behavior before intervention; and (b) Data collected to establish a point of comparison between previous behavior and that which occurs after an intervention is introduced.
 
behavioral change
1. Definition: Difference in performance that is observable and documentable.
2. Examples: Course dropout rate, final course grade, and persistence toward graduation following an intervention activity.
3. Compare with ACADEMIC MENTORING, COURSE-BASED LEARNING ASSISTANCE, and TUTORING.
 
causation and correlation
1. Definitions: (a) CAUSATION occurs when one variable inc

Copyright and Academic Integrity
            
These terms apply to instructors, program managers, and students on how they handle curricula, media, and publications created by others and attribution to previously published works. These can be enormously complicated issues that may require consultation with institutional legal services to avoid violations and potential legal proceedings. Modern technology has made violations easier than in the past. More comprehensive glossaries on this topic are available in Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age: Volume II Copyrights, Trademarks, and State IP Protections (Menell, Lemley, & Merges, 2019) and The People’s Law Dictionary (Hill & Hill, 2002).
 
Two terms not added to this glossary are derivative work and fair use. Those two terms were left out since they have been improperly used to justify the current situation of flagrant copyright violations by some in the higher education profession. See Hill and Hill (2002) and Menell et al. (2019) for their definitions.
 
attribution of intellectual property
1. Definitions: (a) Giving credit to the creator of something. However, ATTRIBUTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY does not absolve the person of potential COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT which can lead to financial damage awards and charges of PLAGARISM. ATTRIBUTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY is required when using material covered by one or more of the six types of CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSES (Creative Commons, 2019; Hill and Hill, 2002); and (b) Appearing to be similar, a citation is a formal way to provide detailed information of where the quotation or idea could be found.
2. Examples: Articles, books, and images.
3. Compare with COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT, CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSES, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY USE COPYRIGHT, LITERARY PROPERTY USE COPYRIGHT, and PLAGIARISM.
 
 
copyright
1. Definitions: (a) “The exclusive right of the author or creator of a literary or artistic property (such as a book, movie, or musical composition) to print, copy, sell, license, distribute, transform to another medium, translate, record or perform or otherwise use (or not use) and to give it to another by will. As soon as a work is created and is in a tangible form (such as writing or taping), the work automatically has federal COPYRIGHT protection. COPYRIGHT covers the following: literary, musical, and dramatic works, periodicals, maps, works of art (including models), art reproductions, sculptural works, technical drawings, photographs, prints (including labels), movies, and other audiovisual works, computer programs, compilations of works and derivative works, and architectural drawings. Not subject to COPYRIGHT are short phrases, titles, extemporaneous speeches or live unrecorded performances, common information, government publications, mere ideas, and seditious, obscene, libelous, and fraudulent work. For any work created from 1978 to date, a COPYRIGHT is good for the author's life, plus 50 years, with a few exceptions such as work for hire which is owned by the one commissioning the work for a period of 75 years from publication. After that, it falls into the PUBLIC DOMAIN” (Hill & Hill, 2002, pp. 114–115); and (b) COPYRIGHT violations are inconsistent with ETHICAL STANDARDS for the profession.
2. Compare with COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT, CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSES, ETHICAL STANDARDS, INADVERTENT USE OF COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY USE COPYRIGHT, LITERACY PROPERTY USE COPYRIGHT, AND PUBLIC DOMAIN.
 
copyright infringement
1. Definitions: (a) “…someone takes work that is subject to COPYRIGHT law and deprives its lawful owner of (actual or potential) benefits by distributing it. COPYRIGHT law was enacted to protect the legal rights of COPYRIGHT holders to benefit financially from their work” (Fishman, 2009, p. 4); (b) “Whereas attribution of intellectual property can negate the act of PLAGIARISM, it does not mitigate COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT which can occur whether or no