Education & Legislative Acronyms

Acronyms and other clumps of initials represent the unintentional cryptographs of education. When these letters spell words, they constitute acronyms; they become almost fun to pronounce and use in conversation. More often, however, they amount to nonsensical jumbles that are mouthfuls to say and vexations to translate. The following list contains definitions for groups of initials that occur with aggravating frequency.

AAA: American Arbitration Association; national association for dispute resolution.

AASA: American Association of School Administrators; national organization for school administrators.

ACT: American College Test; standard test given high school seniors for college entrance.

AESD: Association of Educational Service Districts; state organization of educational service district board members.

AFT: American Federation of Teachers; national teacher union.

AG: Attorney General

AGO: Attorney General's Opinion

ASBO: Association of School Business Officials; national organization for school business managers.

ASCD: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development; national organization.

ASFSA: American School Food Service Association; national organization for school cafeteria managers.

AWSP: Association of Washington School Principals; state organization of school principals, includes WASSP, ESPAW and WJHMSPA.

BEA: Basic Education Act; act of 1977 Washington Legislature which defines basic education for purpose of school funding.

CCSSO: Council of Chief State School Officers; national organization for heads of state departments of education.

CECNW: Citizen's Education Center Northwest

CISL: Center for the Improvement of Student Learning

CSL: Commission on Student Learning

CPS: Child Protective Services

CSCF: Common School Construction Fund

DCTED: Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development; state agency.

DNR: Department of Natural Resources; state agency responsible for state lands.

DSHS: Washington State Department of Social and Health Services; state agency responsible for public health, public assistance, vocational rehabilitation and institutions.

EALRs: Essential Academic Learning Requirements

ECS: Education Commission of the States; partnership of states for mutual assistance in solving education problems.

ED: United States Department of Education; federal agency (cabinet level).

EEOC: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; federal regulatory body, especially deals with discrimination claims.

EERA: Educational Employee Relations Act; state teachers collective bargaining statute.

EHB: Engrossed House Bill

ERIC: Education Resources Information Center; system to develop, store, retrieve information in all fields and levels of education.

ERS: Educational Research Service; a nonprofit agency which offers current research and management information to subscribers.

ESB: Engrossed Senate Bill

ESD: Education Service District; area service organizations for local school districts, of which there are nine in Washington, formerly called Intermediate School Districts.

ESEA: Elementary and Secondary Education Act; federal funds funneled through six titles of this legislation to local school districts for approved projects

ESL: English as a Second Language; programs utilizing the pupil's first language to better understand standard English through use of comparative analysis.

ESPAW: Elementary School Principals Association of Washington; state organization which is part of AWSP.

ETS: Educational Testing Service; nationwide organization that administers various kinds of educational and psychological tests, such as College Entrance Exam.

FICA: Federal Insurance Contributions Act; federal program financing social security.

FRN: Federal Relations Network; an organization of school board members from each congressional district sponsored by NSBA for grassroots political action.

FTE: Full Time Equivalent; describes number of students or staff members.

GED TESTS or CERTIFICATES: General Education Development Tests or Certificates; high school equivalency testing program and the diploma equivalent.

GPA: Grade Point Average

G-CERF: Governor's Commission on Educational Reform and Funding

GESA: Gender Expectation & Student Achievement; an instructional strategy

HB (SHB, EHB, ESHB); House Bill (Substitute House Bill, Engrossed House Bill, Engrossed Substitute House Bill); abbreviation preceding bill originating in the State House of Representatives.

HECB: Higher Education Coordinating Board

HJR: House Joint Resolution

HOSTS: Help One Student to Succeed; tutoring program utilizing volunteers.

HRC: Human Rights Commission

IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

IEP: Individualized Educational Program.

ITIP: Instructional Theory Into Practice; an inservice training program to improve teaching techniques.

ITV: Instructional Television

JAC: John A. Cherberg Building (Senate)

JLOB: John L. O'Brien Building (House)

LAP: Learning Assistance Program; a state program of enhanced funding for the poor and academically disadvantaged.

LBC: Legislative Budget Committee; state legislative agency dealing with the budget

LEA: Local Education Agency (a federal term which usually refers to a local school district); or Local Effort Assistance; levy equalization.

LEAP: Legislative Evaluation and Accountability Program; computer program to assist in developing school funding formulas

LLD: Language/Learning Disabilities; a handicapping condition

LR: WSSDA members who serve as Legislative Representative

MBO: Management by Objectives NABE: National Association of Bilingual Education

NACBE: National Advisory Council on Bilingual Education

NAEP: National Assessment of Educational Progress

NAESP: National Association of Elementary School Principals

NASBE: National Association of State Boards of Education

NASSP: National Association of Secondary School Principals

NCBE: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education

NCCE: National Committee for Citizens in Education

NEA: National Education Association; national teacher union

NERCs: Nonemployee-Related Costs

NIE: National Institute of Education; research-oriented federal agency.

NOLPE: National Organization for Legal Problems in Education; studies and disseminates information about issues and recent developments in school law.

NREA: National Rural Education Association; national organization for rural educators, board members, PTA, etc.

NSBA: National School Boards Association

NSF: National Science Foundation

NSPRA: National School Public Relations Association; national organization for school communications specialists.

NWREL: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory

OCR: Office of Civil Rights in the federal Department of Education.

OERI: Office of Educational Research and Improvement

OFM: Office of Financial Management; state agency dealing with budget matters.

OPMA: Open Public Meetings Act

OPR: Office of Program Research (House Committee Staff)

OSHA: Occupational Safety and Health Administration; federal agency

OSPI: Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction

PEAC: Professional Education Advisory Committee; advises the State Board of Education on professional preparation and certification issues.

PEAB: Professional Education Advisory Board; boards of active professionals that advise each education professional preparation program at colleges and universities in the state.

PDC: Public Disclosure Commission; state agency responsible for financial reporting of public officials.

PERC: Public Employment Relations Commission; state agency responsible for dealing with labor relations for public employees.

PERS: Public Employees' Retirement System; retirement program for state employees in Washington.

PL: Public Law; abbreviation precedes numerical designation for federal laws.

PPS: Pupil Personnel Services; consists of counseling, nursing and other services of personal assistance.

PSE: Public School Employees of Washington; classified school employees union.

PTA: Parent Teacher Association; organization of parents and teachers who work together.

RCW: Revised Code of Washington; all state statutes. Title 28A RCW is the educational code.

RSDF: Rural and Small District Forum; a component of NSBA.

SAT: Scholastic Assessment Test; administered usually during grades 11 and 12; used as criterion for university admission.

SB (SSB, ESB, ESSB): Senate Bill (Substitute Senate Bill, Engrossed Senate Bill, Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill); abbreviation preceding bill originating in State Senate.

SBCCE: State Board for Community College Education

SBCTC: State Board for Community and Technical Colleges

SBE: State Board of Education; one member from each of Washington's nine congressional districts (elected by local school directors) who establish rules and regulations for the general management and operation of the public schools.

SBVE: State Board for Vocational Education

SCAN: State Controlled Area Network; state telephone system.

SEA: State Educational Agency; a federal term which in Washington is the Office of the State Superintendent

SHB: Substitute House Bill

SIRS: School Information and Research Service; state organization providing research results to local districts

SJR: Senate Joint Resolution

SLAP: School Law and Policy CD ROM (compact disk, read-only-memory); a computer research tool offered by WSSDA.

SNOW: School Nurses Organization of Washington

SPI (OSPI): Superintendent of public Instruction (Office of); Washington State department of education.

TESA: Teacher Expectation & Student Achievement; an instructional strategy.

TRI: Time, Responsibility and Incentive; upon which excess teacher compensation must be based.

TRS: Teachers' Retirement System; retirement program for educational employees in Washington.

TSA: Tax Sheltered Annuity

TSE: Traffic Safety Education

WABE: Washington Association of Bilingual Education

WAC: Washington Administrative Code; state rules and regulations supporting state statutes.

WACLD: Washington Association for Children with Learning Disabilities.

WAEOP: Washington Association of Educational Office Personnel

WARC: Washington Association for Retarded Citizens

WASA: Washington Association of School Administrators; state organization for school administrators.

WASBO: Washington Association of School Business Officials

WASSP: Washington Association of Secondary School Principals; state organization which is part of AWSP.

WCSA: Washington Council of School Attorneys

WCH: Washington Commission for the Humanities; state organization which distributes grants for humanities projects.

WEA: Washington Education Association; state teachers' union.

WedNet: Washington Education Network

WIAA: Washington Interscholastic Activities Association; regulates conditions of interscholastic activities.

WISHA: Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act; state statute.

WJHMSPA: Washington Junior Hugh and Middle School Principals' Association; state organization which is part of AWSP.

WORD: Washington Organization for Reading Development

WSAC: Washington State Arts Commission

WSCEA: Washington State Community Education Association

WSFSA: Washington School Food Services Association

WSFT: Washington State Federation of Teachers; state teachers' union

WSIPC: Washington School Information Processing Cooperative

WSPEP: Washington State Parent/Educator Partnership Project

WSPRA: Washington School Public Relations Association; state organization for school communications specialists.

WSRC: Washington State Research Council; private organization which conducts research regarding state government.

WSSDA: Washington State School Directors' Association; state organization for school board members.

WTSEA: Washington Traffic Safety Education Association

WVA: Washington Vocational Association

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