Developmental Psychology Chapter 12 Terms

concrete operational thought

Piaget's term for the ability to reason logically about direct experiences and perceptions

metacognition

"Thinking about thinking," or the ability to evaluate a cognitive task in order to determine how best to accomplish it, and then to monitor and adjust one's performance on that task.

ESL (English as a Second Language)

A U.S. approach to teaching English that gathers all the non-English speakers together and provides intense instruction in English. Their first language is never used; the goal is to prepare them for regular classes in English.

No Child Left Behind Act

A U.S. law enacted in 2001 that was intended to increase accountability in education by requiring states to qualify for federal educational funding by administering standardized tests to measure school achievement

knowledge base

A body of knowledge in a particular area that makes it easier to master new information in that area

charter school

A public school with its own set of standards that is funded and licensed by the state or local district in which it is located

private school

A school funded by tuition charges, endowments, and often religious or other nonprofit sponsors

immersion

A strategy in which instruction in all school subjects occurs in the second (usually the majority) language that a child is learning

bilingual schooling

A strategy in which school subjects are taught in both the learner's original language and the second (majority) language

Trends in Math and Science Study (TIMSS)

An international assessment of the math and science skills of fourth and eighth graders. Although the _____ is very useful, different countries' scores are not always comparable because sample selection, test administration, and content validity are hard to keep uniform

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

An ongoing and nationally representative measure of U.S. children's achievement in reading, mathematics, and other subjects over time; nicknamed "the Nation's Report Card"

ELLs (English Language Learners)

Children in the United States whose proficiency in English is low - usually below a cutoff score on an oral or written test. Many children who speak a non-English language at home are also capable in English; they are not ____s

home schooling

Education in which children are taught at home, usually by their parents.

Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS)

Inaugurated in 2001, a planned five-year cycle of international trend studies in the reading ability of fourth graders

control processes

Mechanisms (including selective attention, meta-cognition, and emotional regulation) that combine memory, processing speed, and knowledge to regulate the analysis flow of information within the information-processing system (also called executive processes)

voucher

Public subsidy for tuition payment at a nonpublic school. _______s vary a great deal from place to place, not only in amount and availability but also in restrictions as to who gets them and what schools accept them.

sensory memory

The component of the information processing system in which incoming stimulus information is stored for a split second to allow it to be processed

long-term memory

The component of the information-processing system in which virtually limitless amounts of information can be stored indefinitely

seriation

The concept that things can be arranged in a logical series, such as the number sequence or the alphabet

hidden curriculum

The unofficial, unstated, or implicit rules and priorities that influence the academic curriculum and every other aspect of learning in a school

working memory

the component of the information processing system in which current conscious mental activity occurs

classification

the logical principle that things can be organized into groups (or categories or classes) according to some characteristic they have in common