Glossary of Terms

Common Terms:

CBM: CBM stands for Curriculum Based Measure. These short assessments are one-minute long snapshots of a child's ability to recognize letters, identify letter sounds, or read words fluently.

Percentile:​ A percentile score ranks students within a group on a scale of 1-99 with 50 being average. A percentile rank of 55 means the student scored higher than 55 percent of the other students in the nation who took the test. It does not mean the student got 75% of the items correct. Percentile does not refer to the percent of questions that were answered correctly.

RTI²: Response to Intervention and Instruction: This document is Tennessee's guidance for school systems as school systems try to deliver quality instruction to all students while addressing any skills gaps students may face along the way.

STAR: STAR is s a test students K-8 take three times per year to monitor their academic progress.

Tennessee State Standards: Tennessee adopted a new set of "standards," or guidelines for what students in Tennessee should know in K-12 language arts and math. These standards replaced the Common Core Standards.

Tier I Instruction: All students should receive Tier I math and language arts instruction in the regular classroom with a highly-qualified teacher.

Tier II Instruction: Students who seem to need extra support in reading and/or math based on the results of the students' STAR test and other data (teacher input, state test scores, class work, etc.) will receive extra support in a small-group setting in order to help close any gaps. Tier II offers 30 extra minutes of instruction in reading and/or math daily. Students' progress will be monitored at least every other week to ensure the extra support is leading to improvement.

Tier III Instruction: If a student does not make improvement after receiving Tier II support, Tier III instruction may be the next step. Tier III instruction is 45 minutes of small-group instruction in reading and/or math targeting skills that a students needs to improve.

Universal Screening: Every child in K-8 will take a test three times per year to assess his/her strengths and weaknesses. Students in K-1 will be screened using a CBM (see above). Students in grades 2-8 will take the STAR Reading and Math test. These tests will help teachers better understand each child's strengths and weaknesses so that they can ensure each child receives the most effective instruction