Adaptive or Assistive Technology: Any hardware, software, computer access, or adaptive equipment that allows students with special needs to participate more fully in home, school, and community activities.
Assessment: The collection and recording of evidence related to children’s school progress. Methods of data collection may be formal (standardized) or informal. In conjunction with evaluation, assessment is used in curricular decision-making.
Curriculum: The content of what is learned. In a school setting, it includes the list of subjects that are studied.
Developmental Domains: The aspects that make up the whole child and that develop with age and experience; typically cognitive, social, emotional, and physical.
Emergent Curriculum: Curriculum that is not prescribed by teachers or other authorities but grows from the students’ own interests.
Evaluation: Interpretation and analysis of data gained through the assessment process. Judgments are made of the data’s quality and value. In conjunction with assessment, evaluation is used in curricular decision-making.
Goals: The ultimate and overall aims of a curriculum.
Individualized Education Programs: Often referred to as IEPs, these plans are created by small teams of adult educators and specialists to meet the needs of specific at-risk children. Goals and objectives may be written for any of the developmental domains.
Integrated Curriculum: Curriculum that incorporates more than one academic subject at a time. It can be prescribed, emergent, or a combination.
Methodology: When applied to teaching, this term refers to the variety of ways in which the curriculum is delivered to the students.
Objectives: Specific behaviors that are to be accomplished by a single portion of the curriculum, usually a lesson or activity.
Project Approach: An in-depth study of a topic chosen by children in negotiation with the teacher.
Pushed-Down or Watered-Down Curriculum: Curriculum that has been taken from upper grades and adapted for use by younger children.
Thematic Curriculum: An integrated curriculum created around a single theme or concept.