Anyone who has read an educational report or School Board policy has come face-to-face with strange words, phrases and acronyms. Information acquired from the School Board, any PTA or school meeting or other education-based organization is bound to contain some of these terms. The following is a list of some of the more frequently used phrases and/or acronyms:

AYP: Adequate Yearly Progress - part of the national No Child Left Behind legislation that measures a school's performance in specific areas.

CIS: Community In Schools, a non-profit organization that works with at-risk students, providing needed educational resources.

DAC: District Advisory Council, which is a countywide, School Board advisory group made up of a representative group of citizens, including individuals from a number of schools across the county.

DOE: Department of Education.

ESE: Exceptional Student Education, which includes students with physical or mental disabilities as well as gifted students.

ESOL: English for Speakers of Other Languages.

FCAT: Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, which is a state-wide standardized test used to assign schools letter grades "A"-"F". Students are now required to show how they got their math answers and to write short essays on the reading questions.

FISH: Florida Inventory of School Houses, State DOE calculated permanent building capacity.

FTE: Full Time Equivalent, usually one student with no special needs, used by state officials to determine how much money is allocated to school districts from the Legislature.

GED: General Educational Development test, taken by students in order to receive a General Equivalency Diploma in lieu of a regular high school diploma.

GPA: Grade Point Average.

IEP: Individualized Education Plan, a document which explains precisely what special-needs students have to learn and what they should know by the end of each school year. In addition, it lists what school they will attend and the services to be provided by the school.

PMP: Progress Monitoring Plan, formerly known as Academic Improvement Plan (AIP), is a curriculum intervention document designed to assist the child or the school in meeting state and district expectations for proficiency in mathematics and reading.

PTA/PTO: Parent Teacher Association/Parent Teacher Organization.

SAC: School Advisory Council.

SAF: School Advisory Forum.

SRO: School Resource Officer, who is a law enforcement officer assigned by local police departments to provide additional security in schools.

SAT 9: Stanford Achievement Test, which is a national standardized test that examines second- through ninth-grade students’ skill in math and reading.

SAT: Scholastic Assessment Test, which is a national standardized test used by colleges and universities for admission purposes.