To be considered a competent educator, there are almost 2000 strategies, concepts, and terms that you must know. However, since teachers wear so many hats, who has the time to learn them all? Don’t worry; we have you covered. In this series, we will discuss all the teaching and learning strategies, concepts, and terms that you need to know to be considered an effective educator. There are over 70 articles in this series, so pace yourself. We recommend reading one piece per weekday, which will allow you to complete the series in three to four months. We hope you enjoy it.

Click here to read all the articles in this series.

Early Childhood Educators Teachers who work with preschool-age children in a classroom setting.

Early Childhood Special Educators Teachers who specialize in working with infants, preschoolers, and young children who display the characteristics of a disability.

Early Graduation Students who graduate from high school in fewer than four years.

Early Head Start A federally funded program that provides services to pregnant women and families with infants and toddlers from low socioeconomic backgrounds to support optimal child development while helping parents/families move toward economic independence.

Early intervention Services pre-kindergarten children who have been discovered to have a disability or to be at risk for developing a disability. Studies show that the earlier intervention services are administered, the greater the chances of success are for the child.

Early Literacy What a child knows about communication, reading, and writing before they learn to read and write.

Early Reader A reader who has recently started to work with word recognition and comprehension strategies.

Easy Child A child who provides a lot of feedback to adults and is generally adaptable, playful, and easygoing. An easy child often receives a lot of attention from adults because they have positive interactions during these early years.

Echo Reading A reading strategy during which an adult reads a section of the text with fluency first; then the child copies the adult.

Eco Map The documentation of a family and its interaction with people, locations, and events using a loosely-structured interview.

Ecological Assessment An assessment that examines the relationships with the child, family, and environment to strategize interventions that can improve or normalize those relationships.

Editing Stage A step in the writing process focused on checking grammar and formatting.

Education Research An organized strategy for asking, answering, and effectively reporting a question that is related to the field of education.

Education Savings Account (ESA) and  It Used for in Educational Terms The state puts funds into a special savings account that parents manage for educational expenses. These funds represent part or all of the money the state would have spent to educate the child in public school. This can then be used for qualifying expenses that can include tutoring, test prep, special instruction or therapeutic services, private school tuition, homeschooling materials, transportation and more dependent upon the state.

Educational Equity Put simply, a concern with ensuring that all students are given an equal chance to succeed. That means that even a child from a lower socio-economic status or a child whose first language is not English or a child from a minoritized community is given the same opportunities to develop their talents and potential as a child from a privileged community.

Educational Psychology A branch of psychology concerned with the study of learning and teaching.

Educational Reform Refers to the changes that continually take place to address the changing needs of the national society and workforce at school level. These changes to the educational system are intended to improve the educational experiences and outcomes of students in the United States.

Efferent Reading A reading method that focuses on information acquisition.

Egalitarianism A belief that everyone should have the same social, political, and economic rights and privileges.

Egocentric Believing, in a self-centered way, that everyone understands the world from one’s perspective.

Elaboration The process of connecting new material to information or ideas previously acquired thereby expanding the level of understanding about any of the information.

Elearning Authoring Tools These tools enable educators to build and adapt elearning systems to suit the specific needs of their classrooms.

Elearning Localization Many elearning courses are designed to be rolled out internationally, but in order optimally to engage learners in different regions, they need to be ‘localized.’ Elearning localization tweaks elearning tools so that they are sensitive to language differences and varying cultural attitudes in a given region.

Electives Classes that count as credit towards a university degree, but are not mandatory.

Electronic Alphabet Books A teaching idea in which alphabet-themed text, created electronically, are filled with comprehensive research related to the content area.

Elementary and Secondary Act (ESEA) Was passed in 1965 in regards to various aspects of educational policy. This includes the funding of education up until the end of high school and aims to promote the removal of achievement gaps between students of differing socioeconomic backgrounds.

Elementary School Usually refers to grades one to six, but there are variations and configurations. Elementary school classes are typically self-contained classes with one teacher for all subjects. Students may be team-taught by two teachers, and some districts departmentalize their upper elementary grades.