Glossary
School Principal Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential school principal terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key school principal vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in school principal training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- 504 plan
- Accommodations for a disability.
- Chronic absenteeism
- Missing 10 percent or more of school.
- Due process
- Fair procedures for discipline.
- FERPA
- Student records privacy law.
- IEP
- Individualized Education Program.
- Instructional leadership
- Leading teaching and learning.
- Master schedule
- The school’s class timetable.
- MTSS
- Multi-tiered system of supports.
- PBIS
- Positive behavior supports.
- Professional learning community
- Teacher team that studies data.
- School improvement plan
- Yearly goals and actions.
- Site council
- School advisory group.
- Teacher evaluation
- Rating teacher performance.
- Title I
- Federal funding for low-income schools.
- Walkthrough
- Short classroom visit.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free School Principal practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see School Principal training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.