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.

Picture Clues Images in a book which provide hints and indications about the text by invoking certain words in the reader’s mind.

Picture Walk (preview) An activity that is completed before reading takes place. The reader views the pictures of the story and predicts what they think is occurring. This activates prior knowledge and gives reading a sense of direction.

Pilot The testing of an instrument or tool with a small population of students to determine if it will be effective for the ultimate purpose.

PISA (The Program for International Student Assessment) The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) evaluates 15-year-old students from countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The skills assessed include reading, science, and mathematics. Some observers believe that a more active role of the federal government in the nation’s educational system will result in an improved system of education, and subsequently improved performance academic performance of U.S. students.

Placement Test Are used by institutions of higher education to check the academic skills or college readiness of incoming students. It is also used to determine which courses students should be required to take initially. For students who are ready to tackle college-level courses, they start out with all or mostly freshman level courses that will count towards graduation. For students who are not college ready, some or all their courses may be developmental or remedial courses, which are meant to prepare them for college-level work. The problem is that these courses do not count towards graduation, which could lengthen the duration of their matriculation.

Plagiarism Using someone else’s thoughts, ideas, or words as your own, without acknowledging their influence.

Play-based Assessment A method for individualized instruction that assesses what an individual child does well can do with assistance, and can’t do even with assistance.

Play-Based Programs An early intervention strategy that acknowledges that children tend to learn best through playing.

Plot The rise and fall in action in a literary work.

PMI Technique A method of instructing students on evaluation by classifying points as pluses (P), minuses (M) or interesting (I) – not good or bad.

Policy Makers People who determine the policies and procedures for intervention services such as school superintendents, elected officials and employees tasked with overseeing these programs or handling funding.

PORPE A learning strategy based on five steps—predict, organize, rehearse, practice, and evaluate—that helps secondary- and college-level students plan, monitor, and assess their reading.

Portfolio-Based Assessment An assessment where the teacher collects samples of work completed by the child in an organized and systematic way to create a “portfolio.” This is one of the more common assessments in the classroom setting.

Positive Reinforcement The relationship between two events that can increase a behavior as a part of the Behavioral Theory. One of the simplest examples of positive reinforcement is a child who receives praise for performing the correct action.

Positive Self-Talk Inner dialogue that includes praise for achievements and capabilities and provides a verbal reward for values.

Postcanonical Vocalizations Vocalizations that occur between the ages of ten and eighteen months that include both closed and open syllables.

Postconventional A stage of moralistic thinking in which the individual focuses on moral principals that are universal rather than on the established authority of a community. Based on the theory developed by Kohlberg.

Postconventional Level of Morality The fifth and sixth stages in Kohlberg’s model of moral reasoning in which individuals weigh value-laden factors and make moral judgments about abstract principles.

Post-Doctorate Academic studies that occur after the doctoral level.

Postmodernism Describes the school of thought arising mainly from oppositional and radical movements in contemporary society. The advent of the Industrial Revolution brought about major societal changes, as well as several social inequalities that were previously unheard of. Although the advances in science and technology continue to shape the world as we know it, the accompanying social changes in power and class structure tend to persist in similar forms as well. It is in opposition to these now established societal structures that postmodernist thought arose in very different areas of the world.

Postreading Stage The final phase of the study which involves the use of organizational, translational, or repetitive activities to reinforce acquired knowledge. Examples of such activities include graphic organizers, paragraph frames, annotations, recitations, K-W-L charts, and think links.

Post-Secondary Education Any form of education that takes place after high school, or secondary school.

Potential Development What a child can do with help or guidance until they actually develop those skills through internalization.

Power Relation Approach One view of leadership that explains a leader as the person at the top of a hierarchical structure or the person in charge.

Power The tendency of a child to identify with the more powerful (from the child’s perspective) of two parents.

PQ4R Method A study technique in which students preview, question, read, reflect, recite, and review a given material or their work.