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.

SAT A uniform college entrance assessment administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) on behalf of the nonprofit College Board, which measures reading, writing and math skills.

Savant Syndrome A term for when an individual with significant mental disabilities exhibits extremely high capabilities on a narrow topic. Examples include autistic individuals with exceptional math capabilities or individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia who are talented artists.

Say Something A teaching idea where students will work in pairs to read a text and share their thoughts with peers. At designated points throughout the text, students will be instructed to stop reading, turn to their partners, and Say Something. They are often prompted by statements like “I did not know that…” or “I was surprised by…” This can be used with narrative and informational texts, both during and after reading.

Scaffolded Outline A strategy where the teacher gives part of the outline of a text and the student must complete it.

Scaffolding When a grownup intervenes in the learning process by giving the student assistance which in turn helps the student learn at a faster rate than they would have if they were left to their own devices.

Scaled Score A derived score statistically created as a measure of a total score on a standardized test or a subtest of the test.

SCAMPER SCAMPER stands for Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify-Magnify-Minify, Put to other uses and Reverse or Rearrange. It is an idea checklist for solving design problems.

Scanning Reading that happens at a fast pace and often used when searching for answers to specific questions.

Schedule of Reinforcement A plan which sets which instances of a behavior will be reinforced and when, including the frequency and predictability of reinforcement.

Schema The background information and context for the content of a given story.

Schema Theory A theory claiming that information is stored in long-term memory in schemata (networks of associated facts and ideas) which provides a structure for the comprehension and interpretation of new information.

Schemata Are how we organize our knowledge that allows us easy access to memories that haven’t been used for some time.

Schemata Cognitive structures that organize a child’s internal representations of experiences and objects.

Schematic Cue System A technique in which a reader uses information from his or her prior knowledge or a personal association with the text’s content.

Scholarship A form of financial aid that is comprised of free monies being given to a student by a school to aid in the payment of their college expenses. The most frequently given scholarships are usually academic or athletic in nature.

Scholarship Tax Credits Scholarship tax credits allow businesses and individuals to receive tax credits for donating money to nonprofit or private organizations that give scholarships. Students can choose from an approved list of private schools and in some cases out of district public schools, much like using a voucher.

School Choice Is an education policy that permits education funds to follow the pupil to the K-12 school or service provider that best fits their needs. Possible placements include public schools, private schools, charter schools, homeschools. Any learning environments that parents feel meet the educational needs of their children.

School Climate Is a collective, descriptive label for the social interactions and relationships among students — with each other and with their teachers — and teachers’ interactions with their peers and administrators. The ways students experience the school and culture: the ways teachers and administrators interact and collaborate.

School Culture Refers to the values, traditions, and infrastructure in each school. These characteristics govern how the school functions as an entity.

School Vouchers The voucher program, in which school education vouchers allow parents to use federal funds for private tuition, has been toyed with since the 1950s. Many agree with the use of vouchers in theory, but practical problems make it difficult to implement their use. It’s tricky to come up with an equal system when private schools and public schools may have widely varying costs per pupil. And no one has agreed on the requirements for eligibility for particular categories of students. Currently, students can fall into widely divergent categories, depending on the school system involved. Categories could range from students with autism to students with disabilities, to students grouped by age, income, or residence.

School Within a School Is a concept that is used for reorganizing schools, especially high schools, and the dynamics within them. Also called small schools, their optimal size varies, they are usually defined as schools with enrollments between 500-900 students.

Schools-within-Schools Refers to a practice based on research showing that studentsller classes do better, particularly in higher grades. Using the same resources and staff, student groups are subdivided to allow them to receive focused or specialized training, according to their needs.

School-to-Prison Pipeline The correlation between students who are removed (suspended or expelled) from school and those who end up in prison at some point in their lives. Students who are removed from school, either temporarily or forever, also drop out of high school at much higher rates than students who are never removed from a classroom setting. People who fall outside this fringe group of perceived misfits may wonder why the school-to-prison pipeline should matter to them.

Schwa A sound in the English language that sounds similar to the short u sound /uh/, but is used during a syllable that does not receive emphasis. For instance, in the words again, another, and away, the schwa sound is located at the onset of the word. Schwa is typically signified with an inverted letter e.

Screen Readers This technology is slightly different from text-to-speech. It simply informs students of  on a screen. A student who is blind or visually impaired can benefit from the audio interface screen readers provide. Students who otherwise struggle to glean information from a computer screen can learn more easily through technology meant to inform them.

Screen Time Simply the act of watching tv, viewing a video on your iPad, playing a game on your phone, participating in social media, etc.

Scriptal Information Schemata or background knowledge.

Scriptally Implicit mean In QARs, the quality associated with an answer to questions from which the information must be rooted in the student’s background knowledge.