Academy Modules: Modules developed for students in the three content areas are referred to as Academy modules. The instructor's modules are created for orientation purposes and are not intended for professional development. Rather, they are designed to convey information about Academy modules and how they can be integrated into teacher education programs.

Alphabetic principle: The practice of using symbols or letters to represent individual speech sounds.

Anchor story: A narrative, or story, that provides a central theme, common background knowledge, and a shared context upon which subsequent instruction is based.

Coarticulate: To blend individual sounds together as they are spoken.

Cognitive strategies: Actions or methods that students can use to better understand what they are reading.

Computer Based Study Strategies: software and strategies that support students as they read to learn, take notes in class, write papers, prepare for tests, and organize for school.

Content Areas: OSEP has specified three content areas within the teacher education curriculum for the Academy to focus on. The content areas include reading, positive behavioral supports and technology in education. These are the content areas from which research-based interventions will be selected and transformed into instructional modules.

Decode: In reading, to interpret unknown words by sounding out the letters.

Directed Questions: A series of questions about lesson content has been included as a feature in each module. A question is presented. Once students enter their response they are able to access exemplary answers. This allows them to compare their response to responses prepared by the Academy staff.

Inspiration (Inspiration Software): A flexible program for organizing information by creating and modifying concept maps, webs and other graphical organizers, and outlines. The software makes it possible for users to instantaneously switch between diagrammatic and outline views of information without retyping or rearranging information.

Integrated learning systems (ILSs): Multi-program sets of courseware and management tools, usually covering several grade levels, and sometimes addressing multiple content areas.

K-W-L activity: a reading comprehension strategy called KWL. K stands for what you know, W stands for what you want to know, and L stands for what you want to learn.

Logograms: Pictures or symbols which correspond to words, Chinese characters for example.

Logography: Writing system in which pictures or symbols correspond to words.

Matthew effect: Describes the situation in which good readers enjoy reading, read more, and choose more difficult materials, thereby improving their skills while poor readers find reading difficult, avoid reading, and do not improve their skills.

Menu: There are menus for each level and lesson in an Academy module. Links to the level menus appear in the center of the menubar. Access any level menu by clicking the level titles in the center of the menubar. Click the up arrow (top right) to access the menu for the current level or to go to the next higher menu level. For example, if you are viewing a page in a lesson the up arrow takes you to the current Lesson menu then to the menu for all Lessons then to the Table of Contents (ToC) for the entire module.

Morpheme: A word or part of a word, not further divisible into meaningful parts.

Navigation: Navigation refers to the technical process of moving from one feature to another in an online module. The navigation system for Academy modules allows students to follow a critical path, but also to exercise flexibility when they wish to vary from the normal path of progressing through a module.

Phonemes: Individual speech sounds, represented by letters in alphabetic writing systems.

Phonemic awareness: The ability to focus on, isolate, and manipulate individual speech sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.

Phonograms: Chunks of letters, commonly used groups of spoken sounds.

Reading comprehension: an active, purposeful process in which meaning is constructed through the interaction between reader and text (Durkin, 1993).

Relevant responding: Student responses or answers to the computer software actually practice the skill the student is supposed to be learning.

Schema: A system, a combination of elements organized in a certain way.

Table of Contents: Each module includes a general Table of Contents (ToC) covering the entire module. Click "ToC" in the top right of the menubar to access the Table of Contents