Teachers working to break ‘eduspeak’ language barrier

Parents might want to brush up on their foreign language skills before attending their child’s parent-teacher conference this month.

Teachers won’t be speaking French, but what comes out of their mouths might be equally confusing for most parents. It’s been dubbed “eduspeak” by some – a language spoken mostly by teachers, principals and school superintendents. In the wake of the federal education law, No Child Left Behind, parents are being subjected to an increasing amount of jargon and buzzwords.

Take the name of the law, for example. As if the acronym NCLB wasn’t enough to befuddle some parents, educators and legislators have taken it a step further. Some simply refer to the law as “nickelby.”

“There’s more education jargon now than there’s ever been,” Coeur d’Alene Superintendent Harry Amend said. “Educators need to be very careful not to use alphabet soup and educational jargon. It’s difficult enough for parents to understand.”

Amend isn’t joking about the alphabet soup. Acronyms are abundant in education discussions. Idaho students take the ISAT, or Idaho Standard’s Achievement Test. They take the IRI, DWA, DMA, SAT, ACT and NAEP. Some students are LEP or have an IEP.

“It sounds like gobbledygook to a lot of people,” Post Falls Superintendent Jerry Keane said.

The district will actually survey some parents during conferences this fall to find out what words they do and don’t understand. Keane said he tries to avoid using some of the confusing eduspeak, but sometimes finds himself slipping.

“I catch myself every once in a while in acronym city,” Keane said, “and I think, ‘Would you shut up? Nobody wants to hear that stuff.’ “

At River City Middle School, parents might not have to work as hard to decipher what’s being said. For the first time, the school is having student-led conferences.

“I will be able to explain it in my own way,” eighth-grader Clarissa Gouge said.

Students have put together portfolios of their work to share with their parents. They’ve written letters to read to Mom and Dad about school and will talk about their strengths and weaknesses. Before the conference ends, they have to hand over their report cards.

Teacher Katherine Kosareff said student-led conferences force students to be accountable.

“If they’re doing poorly in school, they have to explain it,” Kosareff said.

As students rehearsed for next week’s conferences, it was evident that parents – at least at River City – wouldn’t be hearing too many buzzwords.

“Here’s a story I wrote called ‘So Math Will Be Easier,’ ” student Tayler Heffelfinger said to a classmate posing as one of her parents. “It’s so math will be easier.”

Even though teachers are trying to use plain talk with parents, sometimes it might be necessary to use some eduspeak and it’s important for parents to understand what they mean, Keane said.

Keane said parents need to know what the ISAT is and that the test could be a factor in whether or not their children graduate from high school. Elementary teachers will probably also discuss the Idaho Reading Indicator, or IRI, during conferences.

Parents will be told whether or not their children have achieved “proficiency” or met goals on the ISAT. They need to know that schools are held accountable for how well students perform.

Schools and districts have to report how students in several “subgroups” – such as special education and minority students – perform on the ISAT. If schools don’t meet the state’s goals in any one of those subgroups, the school doesn’t meet AYP, or make “Adequate Yearly Progress.”

One group missing AYP can cause an entire school or district to be listed as “Needs Improvement.”

That label can result in sanctions. Schools and districts can be required to offer “choice,” or the option for students to move to another school at the district’s expense.

It’s all part of the accountability expected under No Child Left Behind. By 2014, every student is expected to pass their state’s reading and math tests. Idaho uses the ISAT to measure its progress.

Language aside, local school officials say the main goal of parent-teacher conferences is to communicate with parents and make connections. They want to identify areas where students need extra help and tell parents how they can help their children.

“It’s an extremely important issue that administrators and teachers have to deal with in trying to communicate clearly to parents at all times,” said Ron Schmidt, Lakeland’s assistant superintendent. “And not use the acronyms, the educanese, to the point where they don’t understand what we’re trying to ask them to do as far as working with their children.”