Glossary
High School Teacher Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential high school teacher terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key high school teacher vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in high school teacher training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- 504 plan
- Accommodations for students with disabilities.
- AP
- Advanced Placement college-level courses.
- Block schedule
- Longer class periods on alternating days.
- Credit recovery
- Making up failed courses.
- Department chair
- A teacher leading a subject department.
- Differentiation
- Adapting for different needs.
- Dual enrollment
- Earning college credit in high school.
- Formative assessment
- Checks during learning.
- IEP
- Individualized education program.
- Learning management system
- Software for courses and assignments.
- Recommendation letter
- A letter supporting a student’s application.
- Rubric
- A scoring guide.
- Standards
- Expected learning outcomes.
- Summative assessment
- Final evaluations.
- Unit plan
- A series of lessons on a topic.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free High School Teacher practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see High School Teacher training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.