Glossary of Electric Industry Terms

AB 117:   Community Choice Aggregation legislation—see CCA below.

AB 1890:   Legislation passed in California in 1996 which broke up the state’s vertically integrated utilities by separating generation from transmission and from the distribution of power. Utilities were required to sell off their power plants (except for hydro and nuclear facilities) and to turn over control of their transmission lines to California’s ISO.

AB 2006:   A bill which passed the state legislature in 2004, but was vetoed by the governor. It divided customers into core and noncore groups. See “core/noncore.”

Acre-foot:  The quantity of water that would cover an acre of land to a height of one foot. It is equivalent to 325,900 gallons.

Affiliate:  A company that is directly or indirectly owned or controlled by another company. Management and       ownership of affiliates is often limited in the energy industry to prevent monopoly control in a given region.

Aggregators:    Brokers of wholesale generation.

Ancillary services:  The services other than energy that are required to maintain reliability.

Avoided cost:    The cost a utility avoids by not having to generate a particular amount of power itself. This cost is less than the retail sales price of the  power. Avoided cost was man-dated to be paid to qualifying facilities (see “QF”) under the PURPA Act of 1978.

Baseload, base load, baseload demand:  The minimum amount of power that a utility or distribution company must make available to its customers, or the amount of power required to meet minimum demands based on reasonable expectations of customer requirements.

Baseload plant:    Baseload plants are the production facilities used to meet some or all of a given region’s continuous energy demand, and to produce energy at a constant rate, usually at a low cost relative to other production facilities available to the system. Baseload plants in the U.S. and Canada are usually hydroelectric, nuclear and coal-fired plants

Biomass:  Plant material, wood wastes, or agricultural wastes used as a fuel or energy source. In some parts of the U.S. fast-growing trees and grasses are being planted, often on damaged or erodible lands, as a renewable fuel source.

Btu: British thermal unit. The amount of thermal energy required to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree F. at sea level.

Biofuel:  Either a biomass material used in its natural state as a fuel to produce energy, or a fuel—liquid or gas—derived from biomass materials and used to produce energy.

Bulk power market:      Sales and purchases of electricity among utilities; the wholesale market.

Bundled services:     Situation in which energy is delivered to an end-user at one inclusive price per kWh, covering generation, transmission and distribution.

CAISO,    California Independent System Operator:  A not-for-profit public corporation established to operate and oversee operations of transmission systems to ensure the reliability of the grid in a nondiscriminatory manner.

Capacity:  The rated continuous load-carrying ability, frequently expressed in megawatts (MW), of generation, transmission or other electrical components.

Capacity factor:   The ratio of the average operating load over a period of time to the capacity rating of the unit during that same time period. For example, if a 500 MW unit operated at full

capacity for six months of the year, or at 250 MW for the entire year, it would have a 50 percent capacity factor.

CCA,    Community Choice Aggregation:  A relatively new option under which local communities are allowed to reject utility service and contract directly with non-utility generators.

CEC,   California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission:  Almost always called the California Energy Commission (CEC), an agency established in 1974 to forecast energy needs, license power plants, promote energy conservation and develop alternative energy resources.

CEOB, California Energy Oversight Board:  A board created by the legislature in 1996 to oversee CAISO.

Cogeneration, cogen:  The simultaneous production of two useful forms of energy, usually electricity and heat, from a single fuel source. The addition of cogeneration capability to generating facilities and industries that produce large amounts of heat energy increases energy efficiency by using what would otherwise be waste heat (usually steam or hot water) for heating, industrial use, agriculture or conversion into electricity.

Combined-cycle power plants:  Twin-stage power plants. In the first stage, a gas (natural gas, gaseous coal, etc.) is used to run a gas turbine that produces electricity. In the second stage, the waste heat from the gas turbine and other processes is used to raise the pressure of steam, which in turn is used to generate additional power. By combining these stages, a combined-cycle plant maximizes the efficiency of fuel use.

Congestion:  The physical and operational limitations on the transfer of electric power through transmission facilities.

Contingency:  In a utility context, the disconnection or separation, planned or forced, of one or more components from the electric system. Examples are loss of a generation unit, loss of a transmission line, or a failure of any other single component of the system.

Control area:  A region where the generating capacity is managed in order to balance load and maintain planned interchange schedules with other control areas. Seventy percent of California lies within the CAISO control area; Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Los Angeles Department of Water & Power and other control areas make up the rest of the state.

Core/noncore:    Core customers are smaller customers as defined by a specified maximum peak demand. They are served by their local utility on a cost-based, fixed, average rate plan. Regulatory policy could permit industrial and large commercial noncore customers to choose between the cost-based plan, other plans that the utility might offer, or direct purchases from an independent power producer.

CPA,   California Power and Conservation Authority:  An agency created by AB 1890 to fund energy projects. It has been discontinued.

CPUC,    California Public Utilities Commission:  The state-level agency that regulates electric, gas, telecommunications, transportation and water utilities. Created by constitutional amendment in 1911.

Curtailable demand:      A load that can be interrupted at the discretion of the utility or system operator in order to ensure the adequacy of power supplies during peak periods or emergencies. (Often called “interruptible demand.”) Generally involves large customers who sign “interruptible” contracts which give them lower rates, in return for their agreement to be interrupted if necessary to meet impending power shortages, which may occur on extremely
hot summer afternoons.

Customer choice:  The opportunity for retail consumers to purchase electricity or services from non-utility entities, also known as Direct Access.

Day-ahead market:  The forward market for the supply of electric power at least 24 hours before delivery.

Decommissioning:  The process of closing down a nuclear facility and reducing the residual radioactivity to a level that permits the release of the property and termination of the license. Nuclear power plants are required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to set aside funds during operation for their eventual decommissioning costs.

Demand:  Demand and load are used interchangeably when referring to energy requirements for a given customer or area. They are usually expressed in kilowatts rather than kilowatt-hours, since they represent the requirements of a customer or area at a particular moment in time (though in practice this “moment” may be the average of a short period; a few minutes
up to an hour).

Demand charge, capacity charge:  An additional billed amount that covers the difference between the maximum power a customer may need to have available and the energy that the customer uses most of the time. Many commercial and agricultural customers’ requirements vary greatly during a single day or operating cycle. Consequently they need to have substantially more power available at these peak periods than they actually use at other parts of the billing period. Demand charges, occasionally referred to as capacity charges, are typically calculated based on the difference between the customer’s peak energy use during the billing period and their nominal use (normal or hour-to-hour use) during the same period. Demand charges are not a means of gouging customers by charging for unused energy. Instead they are a means of insuring that customers can have larger-than-normal supplies of energy available to them at a moment’s notice.

Demand-side management (DSM): Modifying decisions related to the time of energy use in order to maximize energy efficiency, thus getting the most out of existing energy resources, whether electric or gas. DSM involves consumers’ changing their energy use habits and using energy-efficient appliances and equipment at off-peak hours.

Deregulation:  Reduction or elimination of regulatory controls over an industry.

DG,   Distributed generation:     Small-scale power generation facilities (typically in the range of 3 to 10,000 kW) located close to where electricity is used (e.g., a home or business) to provide an alternative to or an enhancement of the traditional electric power system.

Direct access:  The opportunity for retail consumers to purchase electricity or services from non-utility entities, also known as Customer Choice. Direct access was suspended by the CPUC in 2001.

Distribution:  The local delivery of power by an electric utility.

Distribution system:  The system of lower-voltage lines, transformers, and switches that connect the high-voltage electric transmission systems to customers.

Divestiture:  The sale or transfer of control over such utility assets as power plants or transmission facilities.

DSM—See demand-side management above.

EEI, Edison Electric Institute:    An association of electric companies created in 1933 “to exchange information on industry developments and to act as an advocate for utilities on sub- jects of national interest.” The EEI acts as an information exchange for its members and a public relations voice for the investor-owned electric industry as a whole.

EER, Energy Efficiency Rating:      A value that expresses the relative efficiency of devices that consume electricity; commonly applied to appliances. EER is calculated by dividing the BTUs-per-hour of waste heat produced (all appliances do; no machine is 100 percent efficient in converting energy into work) by the number of watts used in producimg that heat. The higher the EER, the greater the device’s efficiency.

Embedded cost:  The total costs of all utility assets and ongoing charges incurred in providing and maintaining a supply of energy. Embedded costs most commonly refer to investments incurred in the past that allow an energy utility to produce or deliver energy in the present. The most common embedded cost is the capital cost of transmission, generation and distribu-
tion infrastructure (high-voltage corridors, power lines, transformers, substations and power plants).

EPRI,  Electric Power Research Institute:  Established in 1973 as an independent, nonprofit center for electricity and environmental research. Through its many clients in the United States and abroad, it is able to address the industry’s many critical challenges related to generation, delivery and end-use, with a special focus on safe, reliable, cost-effective electricity and environmental stewardship.

ESP:  Electric service providers

Electric utility:  A privately held company, government agency, publicly owned body or other entity that meets three specific criteria. It must own and/or operate facilities for provision of a service directly related to providing electric energy, it must sell electric energy directly to end use customers, and it must have the exclusive right to provide that service within a given area.
Prior to deregulation, electric utilities were defined as providers of most or all electric services, including generation, transmission and distribution, billing, maintenance and ancillary services. Today an electric utility could mean an entity that provides just one of these services.

Emergency:  Any abnormal system condition that requires immediate manual or automatic action to prevent loss of load, equipment damage or to restore system operations.

Energy charge, commodity charge:  The amount of a customer’s bill that reflects the actual energy used over the billing period.

FERC,   Federal Energy Regulatory Commission:  A federal agency within the U.S. Department of Energy that has jurisdiction over the rates and terms of service for interstate facilities and wholesale markets for electric utilities, non-utility generators and gas pipelines.

Forced outage:  Unplanned interruption in electric service due to generator failures, power-line outages or other unplanned circumstances.

Forward contract:  A contract in which the buyer is obligated to take delivery, and the seller is obligated to deliver a fixed amount of a commodity at a predetermined price on a specified future date, at which time payment is due in full.

Fuel cell:  A device in which hydrogen, usually derived from a fuel such as natural gas or methanol, is converted directly and continuously into electric energy.

Generation:  A process for the production of electric power; or one way of referring to the output of a power plant.

Geothermal Energy:  Heat (thermal) energy stored in rock below the earth’s surface. Technologies such as heat exchangers and heat pumps can convert this into usable energy. When geothermal energy takes the form of hot water, steam or hot compressed air, as it generally does, it can be used to produce electricity in conventional steam turbine-generators.

GW, Gigawatt:   A measure of power equal to one billion (109) watts. One gigawatt is 1000 megawatts (MW).

GWh, Gigawatt-hour:  One gigawatt-hour equals one billion watts delivered or consumed in a 60-minute period.

Green energy:     Generic term for any type of energy which is considered to have a lower environmental impact than fossil fuel-produced energy. The actual definition of green power is relative, and depends largely on where the term is applied and by whom. For example, Texas defines efficient natural gas generation as green power. In California green power is usually considered to be wind, solar, geothermal, biomass or hydroelectric with capacity of less than 30 MW.    The term heavily overlaps and is generally interchangeable with “renewable energy.”

Grid:  The high-voltage transmission network that transports large amounts of electricity from production facilities to end-use customers.

Grid management charge:  A fee charged by the owner or operator of a transmission system as established by federal regulators.

Hybrid market:  A wholesale power market divided between utility-owned and non-utility- owned generators.

IEPR,   Integrated Energy Policy Report:      Report produced every two years by the California Energy Commission as an overall planning tool. See SB 1389.

Independent Energy Producers: Non-utility owners and operators of power facilities. A trade association for such companies based in California.

Interruptible demand:      See “curtailable demand”

IOU,   Investor-owned utility:     Utility company that is owned by private shareholders. Though privately owned, such companies are often referred to as public utilities because they serve the public with essential goods or services. The major electric IOUs in California are Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), plus the smaller non-California-based utilities Pacific Power and Light (PP&L) and Sierra Pacific. All IOU operations in California are regulated by the CPUC.

ISO,   Independent System Operator:  A not-for-profit corporation established to operate and oversee operations of transmission systems to ensure the reliability of the grid in a non discriminatory manner. (Often, as in this report, referred to as ‘CAISO,’ CA representing “Califor-
nia.”)

KW,   Kilowatt:  A measure of electric power equal to one thousand watts.

KWh,    Kilowatt-hour:    A measure of electric power consumption equal to one kilowatt delivered or consumed in a 60-minute period.

Life-cycle costs:   The total costs of building, operating, maintaining and decommissioning a facility over its life span. Includes all costs, such as fabricating and transporting the materials to build the plant, and at the end transporting the remnants for disposal.

LNG,    Liquefied Natural Gas:     Natural gas that has been converted to a liquid by cooling it to -260 degrees Fahrenheit, reducing its volume to 1/600th of its gaseous state and greatly facilitating shipping and storage.

Load:  When referring to an electric circuit or an energy generation system, load is the amount of power delivered along the entire circuit or between specific points on the system. Load for a residential bathroom circuit at a given moment might be 1,650 watts, consisting of 1,500 watts for a hair dryer and 150 watts for lighting. Load is also used in the energy industry as
the moment-to-moment measurement of power requirement in the entire system. In this context, load is the real measurement of customer demand for energy. Load can also refer to any electrical device consuming energy in a circuit. For example, a single household is a load on the municipal distribution system, a switched-on clock radio is a load on a household circuit, and so forth.

Load following: Load is the amount of electric power required at any specified point or points on a system at any given time. The ISO is responsible for seeing that the power is available to meet the load, which varies constantly due to changes in demand or generation availability. Hydro plants are excellent load-following resources, as they can be put on line with very little start-up time. Some fuel-burning plants are almost always kept on line as “spinning reserve,” ready to be brought up to full power very quickly.

Load forecast:  Forecast of how much electricity will be used on an hourly basis over a period of time.

Load-serving entity:  A company or person that delivers electricity to end-users or interme-diate-facilities along the transmission/distribution route.

Market clearing price:  The price at a location at which supply equals demand; all demand at or above this price has been satisfied, and all supply at or below this price has been purchased.

Market power:  Does not refer to electric power, but to the ability (power) a company may have due to its size or other circumstances to establish or affect prices for electricity (or other commodity).

Mcf:  One thousand cubic feet; a measure of natural gas.

MMcf:  One million cubic feet.

MW,    Megawatt:  A measure of power equal to one thousand kilowatts, or one million watts, of electricity.

Merchant plant:  A power generation facility that operates in wholesale markets without a long-term contractual commitment for its entire output; a power plant not subject to state regulation of rates.

Municipal utility (Muni):  A utility owned by and subject to the jurisdiction of a municipality, as opposed to state or federal authority.

Negawatt (n):   A megawatt of power that is not needed because of installed energy efficiency measures. Energy saved through use of more efficient appliances, instruments, or buildings, or through altered use patterns such as lowering the thermostat in winter and raising the thermostat in summer. The term is associated with conservation activist Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute.

Net metering:  Under net metering, when an in-house generator is producing more power than the customer needs for its own purposes, the excess power is put back into the grid, and the electric meter in effect runs backwards. When in-house output is insufficient, power will be taken off the grid to supplement it, and the meter will run forward. Over a given billing period, the customer may be paid for a net input into the system, or pay for a net withdrawal from the system—either way the customer is provided value for power produced.

Oligopoly:  A market condition in which sellers are so few that the actions of any one of them will materially affect price and have a measurable impact on competitors.

ORA, Office of Ratepayer Advocates: A subdivision within the California Public Utilities Commission which is charged with representing ratepayers. From this perspective, it reviews and analyzes applications for rate changes and makes recommendations to the CPUC.

Peak load:  The maximum demand for electric power during a stated period. A producer may also use this term to refer to the maximum demand for power that determines the generating capacity needed by that producer.

Peaking plant or “peaker”: Power plant that is run only at peak demand times. It is usually less efficient, thus producing more expensive power, and may also be more polluting.

Petroleum coke: Petroleum coke is a by-product of the oil refining process. Its high heating value and low ash content tend to result in lower transportation cost relative to coal. On the other hand, its high sulfur content, low volatile matter, and high metal content tend to make petroleum coke an unattractive fuel. However, its increasing supply and declining prices are hard to ignore, and several qualifying facilities in California are now using it.

Photovoltaic cell:  A solid-state device for generating electricity, commonly made from a silicon alloy. When sunlight is absorbed by the cell, electrons are dislodged from the material’s atoms. The front and back surfaces of the cell become charged, much like a battery, and when they are linked, a current is created. Because photovoltaic cells generate direct current and most commercial applications use alternating current, an inverter is needed to convert the output to alternating current. Photovoltaics (often “PV”) is a related term used to refer either to the study of photovoltaic energy or to the equipment required to produce photovoltaic energy.

Power marketers:  Companies or individuals that buy and sell electricity on a wholesale basis subject to the jurisdiction of federal regulators.

Power pool: Interconnected electric systems that coordinate operations and/or provide a centralized spot market for power purchases and sales.

PUHCA,  Public Utility Holding Company Act:  A federal law enacted in 1935 to regulate and limit the operations of corporations that own and operate utilities in multiple jurisdictions. The 2005 federal Energy Bill calls for its repeal.

PURPA, Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act: A federal law passed in 1978 to encourage less reliance on oil and natural gas by requiring electric utilities to purchase power from independent energy producers operating cogeneration facilities or using renewable resources, such as wind, solar, biomass and geothermal. See “avoided cost.”

Public goods charge, public benefits charge, public program charge:  Monies collected by the investor-owned utilities for renewable energy, research and development, public-interest research and development, and low-income energy assistance.

QF, Qualifying facility:  A power plant, as specified under PURPA, that is eligible to sell its output at a price equivalent to what it would otherwise cost the utility to produce or purchase new generation. (See “avoided cost.”) During the 1980s and 1990s, the CPUC ordered the IOUs to pay incentive rates to most qualifying facilities.

Real time pricing:  A method of pricing energy based on either the actual market value or the utility’s cost for energy at the time when it is used. Off-peak energy is typically less expensive than on-peak energy. When real-time pricing is applied, customers who use most of their energy at night when demand is low will be charged a lower rate than customers who use most of their energy during the day, when the utility’s energy costs are higher.

Regulation: Rules and policies established at the state or federal level to control the costs or service offerings by certain companies and entities.

Reliability: Refers to the adequacy and security of electric transmission networks and/or generation facilities. Adequacy measures the ability to provide sufficient power to customers at all times; security refers to the ability of the system to withstand unexpected disturbances and breakdowns.

Reliability Must Run (RMR): A term the California ISO applies to plants that it considers must be available to meet reliability requirements.

Renewable energy: See “green energy.”

Renewable energy certificates (RECs): Marketable or tradeable commodity affidavits that represent defined amounts of renewable energy.  A system for marketing RECs was proposed in SB 107 of 2005.

Restructuring: Altering the traditional relationship between utilities, markets and regulatory bodies, which may involve some form of deregulation of utility costs or service offerings, or by subjecting regulated entities to competitive forces.

Retail competition: Allowing providers of electricity and other services to compete directly with utilities to serve customers.

RPS,   Renewable Portfolio Standard: Refers to legislation requiring utilities to have a defined percentage of their generation in renewable sources such as wind, solar and some categories of hydro. SB 1078 requires investor-owned utilities to increase investment in renewable energy one percent annually, up to a total of 20 percent renewables by 2017; SB 107 is legislation
proposed in 2005 to accelerate this schedule to 2010. In the most recent Energy Action Plan, the CPUC, CEC and CAISO have called for 20 percent renewables in 2010.

RTO, Regional Transmission Organization: The owner or operator of transmission systems covering a broad, usually multi-state region.

Rural electric cooperative: Consumer-owned rural electric generation, transmission and distribution system that supplies electricity to consumers in rural areas. Rural Electric Cooperatives serve some 75 percent of the land area and operate half of all of the miles of electric lines in the United States, averaging five consumers per mile of line compared with an average of 35 consumers per mile of line for other utilities.

SB 1389:  Legislation passed in 2002 requiring the CEC, with participation of the other relevant state agencies, to prepare an extensive assessment of the state’s energy trends and needs on a biennial basis. This assessment has become the biennial IEPR, with an update that is prepared in the alternate years. After approval or amendment by the governor, this report becomes the state’s energy policy.

Scheduling coordinator:  An entity authorized to submit a balanced generation or demand schedule on behalf of one or more generators, and one or more end-users customers.

Service territory:  The geographic area in which a regulated utility operates.

Settlement:  A financial process of billing and payments for market transactions.

Solar-thermal power: Electric power produced by using lenses and reflectors to concentrate the heat of the sun. Because the heat can be stored, these power plants can generate power whenever it is needed, even after the sun has set.

Spot power:  Electricity that is bought or sold on a near-term basis, usually from one hour to one day before delivery.

Substation:  An assemblage of equipment including switches, transformers and other equipment needed to switch, change or regulate the voltage of electricity. Substations are commonly found in residential and industrial areas, where one or more high voltage lines feeds into the station, transformers step down the voltage, and lower-voltage distribution lines feed out to serve
customers in the surrounding area. (Small transformers on poles, or underground, perform one final reduction of voltage to the proper level for home appliances and other uses.)

Supplier:  A company or entity that sells electricity to utilities or customers using either its own generation and delivery facilities or those of another entity.

Tariff, tariff schedule:   A document filed with the appropriate regulatory authority specifying lawful rates, charges, rules and conditions under which the utility provides services to parties.

Tax credit or tax incentive:   A given percentage of a cost which can be deducted by taxpayers from their net tax. To qualify for the tax credit, items or systems purchased must satisfy requirements specified in the authorizing law.

Title 24, Part 6, of the California Code of Regulations:       California’s Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential and Nonresidential Buildings, first established in 1978 in response to a legislative mandate to reduce California’s energy consumption. The standards are updated periodically; the 2005 Title 24 standards will supersede the 2001 standards in October 2005.

Transition period:    The period of time to allow utilities an opportunity to recover costs prior to a loosening of rate regulation or introduction of full competition. Under California restructuring law, this period was defined as January 1, 1998 through December 31, 2001, or until cost recovery was completed.

Transmission:    The process of transporting electricity over high-voltage wires from the source of generation to the point of consumption or, more usually, to a substation for voltage reduction and further distribution.

Transmission congestion:  Power flows that cannot be physically accommodated by the system.

Transmission owner:      An entity owning transmission facilities or having contractual rights to use transmission facilities that are used to transmit and distribute power from suppliers.

Unplanned outages: Unscheduled outages of generation, transmission or distribution facilities. Another term for forced outages.

Vertically integrated utility:   A utility company that owns and operates its generating plants, transmission lines and distribution lines and can supply end-users with a bundled service. See entry at “bundled services”

Voltage support:  Maintenance of voltage within acceptable limits despite changes in power flow.

Wheeling:  The use of the transmission facilities of one system to transmit power and energy from or to another system, or both.

Watt:  A small, standard unit of electric power, defined as one ampere at one volt at unity power factor.

WECC,     Western Electricity Coordinating Council:  The entity that coordinates planning for the transmission grid linking the western states.

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Glossary of Lighting and Electrical Terminology

ANSI – American National Standards Institute; The organization that develops voluntary performance standards for industries, including the electrical industry.

Average Rated Life – A rating (in hours) for traditional lamps that indicates when 50% of a large group of lamps have failed
during operation at nominal lamp voltage and current. Every lamp has a mortality curve depicting its average rated life.  Since LEDs don’t “burn out”, rated life is an indicator of when an LED lamp has 

Ballast – A device used with an electric discharge lamp to obtain necessary circuit conditions for starting and  operating sink for the ballast enclosure in order to prolong ballast life.

Base – The part of a lamp that mechanically holds it in place in the application. The base conducts electricity from  the circuit to the lamp and can also be designed to dissipate heat. 

Beam Angle – The angle between the two directions that the light intensity is 50% of the maximum intensity as  measured in a plane through the nominal beam centerline.

Directional Lighting – Illumination on the work plane or object that is predominantly from a single direction.

Efficacy – A measurement used to compare light output to energy consumption measured in lumens per watt.  If a 100-watt source produces 9,000 lumens, the efficacy is 90 lumens per watt.

CCT – Correlated Color Temperature; A specification of the color appearance of a light source measured by the thermal  unit Kelvin. The measurement can be described as the warmth or coolness of a light source. Sources below 3200K are warm; those above 4000K are cool.

CFL – Compact Fluorescent Light; a fluorescent light similar in size to a traditional incandescent light bulb used for general
lighting. Ultraviolet light excites phosphors in the lamp causing them to radiate visible light. CFLs contain mercury, so they must be disposed of carefully as outlined by the EPA, especially if broken.

CRI – Color Rendering Index; a measure of how a light source renders colors of objects compared to a reference  light source. The CRI scale is from 0 to 100 with 100 being identical to the reference source.

Floodlight – A reflector lamp with a wide beam pattern or a luminaire consisting of lamp and reflectors at a fixed  distance providing a wide field of illumination.

Fluorescent Lamp – A light consisting of a tube filled with argon and other inert gas. When electrical current is applied,  the arc emits ultraviolet radiation that excites the phosphors inside the lamp wall causing them to   radiate visible light.

HID – High Intensity Discharge; This is the general category term for mercury vapor, metal halide, and high-pressure  sodium lamps.

High Bay – Refers to the type of lighting for industrial applications where the ceiling height is twenty feet or greater.

High Pressure Sodium Lamp – An HID lamp that produces light by radiation from sodium vapor and mercury.

Incandescent – The process of creating light from heat, as in a traditional light bulb, where a filament is heated  by electricity

Lamp – Refers to incandescent, fluorescent, high-intensity discharge, and LED manufactured light sources.  

LED – Light Emitting Diode; a semi-conductor device used in solid-state LED lighting.

Lens – Transparent or translucent medium that alters the directional characteristics of light passing through it.

Low Voltage Lamp – A lamp that operates at 12V and requires the use of a transformer.

LPW Performance – The number of lumens produced by a light for each watt of electrical power supplied to  the light. (Lumens Per Watt).

Lumen – Unit of luminous flux; a measure of the perceived power of light.

Lumen Depreciation – The decrease in the output of a light source over time. Each lamp type has a lumen depreciation curve (or lumen maintenance curve) showing the pattern of decreasing light output.

LUX – A metric unit of measure for luminance of a surface. One LUX is equal to one lumen per square meter

Mercury Vapor Lamp – A type of HID lamp that has a long life but is not as energy efficient as metal halide, producing  35 – 58 lumens per watt. Mercury vapor lamps also have a lower color-rendering index than metal halide lamps.

Metal Halide Lamp – Similar in construction to a mercury vapor lamp in which most of the light is produced by radiation from mercury vapor. Metal halides offer excellent color rendering and generate 65 – 115 lumens per watt.

PAR Lamp – Parabolic Aluminized Reflector; a lamp used to redirect light from the source using a parabolic  reflector. PAR lamps are available with flood or spotlight distribution.

Photocell – A light sensing device used to control luminaires and dimmers based on the amount of light detected.

Power Factor –  Power factor is a calculation of real power divided by total apparent power and measured on a scale  from 0 to 1. A high power factor is an indication that more of the available power is being transferred for useful  purpose, such as lighting a lamp. The higher the power factor is to 1, the closer the power consumption will  be to the output power of the device. In other words, if a 3-watt lamp could consume exactly 3 watts of  power, the power factor would be 1.

Reflector – The part of a fixture that that shrouds a lamp and redirects a portion of the light being emitted.

Retrofit – In lighting, it refers to the upgrading of fixtures or lamps.

Spotlight – A lamp that produces a narrow beam angle designed to illuminate a specifically defined area. 

SSL – Solid-State Lighting; Lighting that converts electricity into light using semiconductors. LEDs are solid-state  lighting devices.

Troffer – A recessed office lighting fixture, traditionally housing fluorescent tubes.

Usable Light Hours – Refers to the life of an LED before the light output is reduced to half of its original intensity. 

UV – Ultraviolet; Invisible radiation that is shorter in wavelength and higher in frequency than visible violet light.
                                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                                  

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Glossary of Electrical terms.

Alternating Current (AC) - The type of mains electricity used in the UK having a cyclical current waveform. Normally used in UK houses at 240V (RMS) alternating at 50 times per second (50 hertz).

Ampere (A or Amp) - Unit of electrical current. Either how much electricity an appliance will use, or a circuit (fuse, mcb, cable, connectors etc) can handle. Fuses are always rated by current as are cables. Each appliance will have an Amp rating or if only a wattage is quoted, Amps = Wattage/Voltage.

Bonding - The process by which all metal parts in a buildings are electrically connected together and then linked to a real earth. This is done to prevent any metal component within a building becoming dangerous should it become live due to an electrical fault or damage. Any fault should cause the circuit protection device to operate and isolate the incoming mains. (aka earthing).

Building Regulations - Part P of the Building Regulations covers the installation and modification of electrical wiring - applies to England and Wales. see Part P.

Cable - Used to route and control power around a property - see Twin and Earth and Three Core and Earth.

Cartridge Fuse - A fuse within a ceramic cylindrical body which is pushed into a fuse holder. Used in older type consumer units, fused sockets, 13amp fused plugs etc. If the fuse blows, the cartridge is replaced. See Fuse.

CE marking (Conformity Europene) - European standards covering everything from Stuffed Toys to Electrical equipment. Everything sold in the UK should be CE marked for conformance to the relevant directives (if there is a directive covering it).

Ceiling Rose - The ceiling fitting above conventional lights. Inside they usually function as a junction box for the wires from the switch. Care needs to be taken when working on them as they contain live wires even when the light is switched off at the light switch.

Circuit Breaker - A switch like device with a pre-set current limit used to protect a circuit from electrical overload. If the circuit breaker is activated (or tripped), it can be reset by pushing a button - however the reason for the trip should always be investigated as it is an indication of an overload, possible some form of fault.

Circuit protective conductor (CPC) - A name used for the protective earth wiring of all metal parts of a building (see Earthing).

Conduit - A pipe or tubing used to house cable. In walls to switches and socket usually oval and plastic in modern houses, or round and metal in older ones.

Conduit Box - A mounting box used to join lengths of Conduit, often contains cable joins.

Consumer unit - The electrical switch panel normally located on the consumer side of the meter and which contains the main double pole switch and the fuses, circuit-breakers, or residual current operated trip devices.

Current - The amount of power drawn by an appliance - see Ampere.

Dimmer Switch - A switch which incorporates a control for the brightness of a light fitting.

Direct current (DC) - Unlike Alternating Current, the flow of electricity does not alternate - it flows in just one direction. Normally used in low voltage electronic circuits and computers etc around the house and is usually derived from the alternating mains via a power supply.

Double Pole Switch - A switch which breaks (or makes) both the live and neutral lines with one throw of the switch.

Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker (ELCB) - A protection device which cuts off the power if it detects minute currents flowing to earth. No longer the preferred method of protection being replaced by RCDs in new installations.

Earthing - The process by which all metal parts in a buildings are electrically connected together and then linked to earth. This is done to prevent any metal component within a building becoming dangerous should it become live due to an electrical fault or damage. The link conductors are referred to as Circuit Protective Conductors (CPC). Any fault should cause the circuit protection device to operate and isolate the incoming mains. (aka bonding).

Electrical First Fix - Generally used to refer to that part of an electrical installation that is not visible on completion - i.e. wires above the ceiling, in the walls etc.

Electrical Second Fix - Generally used to refer to that part of an electrical installation that is visible on completion - i.e. the light fitting, wall switches etc.

Frequency - In alternating current, the rate at which the current changes direction - in the UK typically 50 Hertz. One complete cycle in one second is 1 Hertz.

Fuse - A crude protection device which destroys itself (or 'blows') and breaks the circuit should the current exceed the rating of the fuse. Once the fuse has blown, it needs to be replaced - unlike Circuit Breakers/MCBs. Modern fuses are generally in sealed cartridges which need to be replaced. See also Cartridge Fuse.

Fuse Box - see Consumer Unit.

Fused Connection Unit (FCU) - A fused outlet from a mains circuit where the cable to the fixed appliance is hard wired in (i.e. not a plug and socket) and contains a fuse for the appliance - such as a cooker in a kitchen. See also SFCU (Switched Fused Connection Unit).

Fused Spur - An electrical supply using one feed cable to a socket taken off a ring main via a fuse of lower rating that the fuse for the ring main. See also Spur.

Grommet - A small, round rubber/plastic washer with a groove in the outer edge so that it can be located in mounting boxes etc to prevent chafing of cables passing through.

Junction Box - A box containing terminal blocks for joining electrical cable.

Kilowatt (kW) - see watts.

Kilowatt Hour (kWh) - Measure of energy used equated to an hour - i.e. a 5 kW appliance operated for 12 minutes will use 1kWh, operated for 1 hour will use 5kWh, or operated for 5 hours will use 25kWh.

'Knockout' - An area in a mounting or junction box which was weakened during manufacture so that it can be easily 'knocked out' if necessary when being installed to allow the entry of cables.

Loop-in Lighting Circuit - A method of wiring light fittings and switches by running the cable to each light in series.

Low Voltage (LV) - see Separated Extra Low Voltage (SELV).

mA (Milliamp) - 1/1000th of an Ampere - see Ampere

Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB) - A modern alternatives to fuses used in Consumer Units (Fuse Boxes). They have the benefit that if they trip, they can be reset and they offer a more precise tripping value.

Mounting Box - A metal or plastic, square or rectangular box secured to a surface and to which the switch, socket or other fitting is secured, normally using screws through the fitting into lugs at each end of the box. Surface mounted Mounting Boxes are usually plastic - Mounting Boxes which recess into walls (so that the accessory face plate is flush) are usually metal and smaller. Metal Mounting Boxes must be earthed.

Ohms - A unit of electrical resistance. Resistance (ohms) = Voltage / Ampere (known as Ohm's Law).

One Way Switch - A switch plate which controls a light from one position, having two terminals and using Twin and Earth cable.

Overcurrent - A current exceeding the rated value, the circuit/appliance should be protected by a Circuit Breaker or fuse so than any overcurrent in the circuit is short lived. For cables the rated value is their current carrying capacity.

Part P Building Regulations - Part P of the Building Regulations covers the installation and modification of electrical wiring and applies to England and Wales. These regulations state that to ensure that the required standards are met, most work must either be carried out by a certified electrician or the work must be tested to the satisfaction of the local Building Control
Department. See our page giving more details about the Part P Regulations.

Printed Circuit Board (PCB) - Widely used method of assembling electronic components, used in boilers, washing machines etc. Often not considered repairable and replacements can be expensive.

Radial Circuit - A power circuit starting at the Consumer Unit and terminating at the furthest socket or appliance, each socket being connected to the previous one in the circuit - i.e. not in a Ring Main. Only really usable where each circuit connects to just one high power appliance (Shower, Cooker etc).

Residual Current Breaker with Overload protection (RCBO) - These combine the functions of a MCB and a RCD in one unit. Used to protect a particular circuit, as opposed to a single RCD for the whole building. Generally more used in commercial building than domestic ones.

Residual Current Device (RCD) - Modern alternatives (better) to Earth Leakage Circuit Breakers and fuses in the Consumer Unit. RCDs are tripped if they detect a slight current imbalance between Live and Neutral wires above their trip value - typically 30mA. They can also be used at sockets to give specific protection (such as using an electric lawnmower), their advantage here is that if they trip they will not shut down the whole house.

Ring Main - A power circuit consisting of a ring formed from the Consumer Unit so that each socket on the loop is connected both ways around the loop back to the Consumer Unit. This shares the current being drawn from the sockets so that the cable used need not be as big as it otherwise would.

Root Mean Square (RMS) - A method of measuring waveforms to give meaningful measurements - this is a bit more complicated than intended for this glossary. The only point really of interest here is that UK mains voltage has a peak voltage in the cycle of 340V - which equates to 240V in RMS terminology.

Separated Extra Low Voltage (SELV) - A circuit operating at less than 50v a.c. or 120 V rippleree d.c. via a step down transformer from the mains.

Single-Phase - This is probably too much information, all you really need to know is that in the UK, domestic electricity supply is normally Single Phase. Three phase can supply more electrical power so large machines and industrial equipment will often use the 3 phases. Working with Three Phase wiring is definitely not a job for the DIY person.

Single Pole Switch - A switch which breaks (or makes) just the live line with one throw of the switch, while leaving the neutral line connected through into the appliance.

Single Way Switch - see One Way Switch.

Spur - An electrical supply using one feed cable to a socket taken off a ring main usually used to achieve an extra socket without having to do too much work. See also Fused Spur.

Switched Fused Connection Unit (SFCU) - A fused outlet from a mains circuit where the cable to the fixed appliance is hard wired in (i.e. not a plug and socket) and contains a fuse and switch (usually a double pole to isolates both live and neutral from the appliance) - such as a fixed wall heater. See also FCU (Fused Connection Unit).

Three Core and Earth - Power cable with three coloured insulated cores and a bare earth wire used for two way switching and other purposes.

Transformer - An electrical component which changes the voltage of Alternating Current - such as reducing mains voltage to SELV.

Twin and Earth - Standard power cable with two coloured insulated cores and a bare earth wire for supplying lights, sockets, heaters etc. The different applications require different sizes - typically 1.5mm²   for lighting, 2.5mm²   for ring mains, 6mm²   for cookers and showers.

Two Way Switch - Switches which can be used in pairs so that either can switch a light on or off. Each switch has terminals allowing them to be linked using Three Core and Earth cable.

Voltage (V) - The numerical value of the electrical potential between two points in a circuit. Volts = Wattage/Amperes.

Wattage (W) - A unit of power - in electrical equipment defined as Watts = Volts x Amperes. One watt is fairly small and household equipment will often be rated in terms of Kilowatt (kW) - 1kW = 1000W.

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Food Web Glossary / Key Terms

Ballast water: Water carried by ships for balance and stability.

Barrier: A natural feature, human-built structure or technology that prevents passage.

Biomass: The total mass of all living things in a given area.

Carnivore: A meat eater.

Consumer: An organism that eats food produced by another organism.

Decomposer: An organism that feeds on dead plant and animal matter, breaking it down for reuse by plants.

Detritus: Organic material that is either waste material from an organism or decomposing plants and animals.

Exotic species: Plant or animal that does not naturally occur in a specific location or ecosystem.

Food chain: Simplified representation of the relationship of organisms that feed on each other.

Food web: Shows what a group of fish, animals and organisms eats—often multiple species—and how energy is passed from one group to another.

Herbivore: A plant eater.

Host: An organism that harbors and provides nourishment for a parasite.

Invasive species: An animal or plant that has a profound and negative impact on an ecosystem.

Macroinvertebrates: Small animals, able to be seen with the naked eye, that do not have a backbone.

Nonindigenous species: Species that are living outside of the area where they evolved.

Omnivore: An animal that eats both plants and animals.

Parasite: An organism that lives in or on another living organism and receives nourishment from it but gives nothing in return.

Photosynthesis: The process by which a green plant makes sugar, part of the food it needs to grow, and produces oxygen.

Predator: A meat eater that catches its food (prey) alive.

Prey: An animal that is hunted or caught for food.

Producer: An organism that produces its own food (for example, a green plant).

Productive: Biologically active, supporting a diversity of aquatic life.

Spawn: To breed and deposit eggs.

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FOOD SAFETY GLOSSARY OF TERMINOLOGY

Approved Source - A supplier that has been inspected by a regulatory agency and found to be in compliance with all local, state or federal laws to protect public health.

Aseptically Packaged & UHT - Heat treated at high temps and packaged under sterile conditions.  Never exposed to light, air, or bacteria.

Bacillus Cereus - Food borne illness most commonly from improperly cooled or cooked rice and beans.

Bacteria - Tiny, one-celled microorganisms found in the environment. Bacteria multiply rapidly in food under the right conditions, and some bacteria can cause foodborne illness. Helpful bacteria can be used to make yogurt, vinegar and some cheeses.

Biological hazard - Exposure to food by disease-causing microorganisms or toxins that are found in some plants and fish.

Botulism - Toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum.

Calibration - the process of standardizing a temperature monitoring instrument to ensure that it will measure within a specific temperature range in which the instrument is designed to operate.

CDC - Center for Disease Control.      Investigates outbreaks of foodborne illness.

Chemicals - Chemical foodborne illnesses are among the most deadly. Chemicals and other “natural” toxins formed in food include agents such as scombrotoxin and ciguatoxin. Store  cleaning supplies in a different area away from stored food.

Chemical hazards - Substances such as cleaning solutions and sanitizers.

Clean - Free of visible soil.

Control Measures - Actions and activities that can be used to prevent or eliminate a food safety hazard or reduce it to an acceptable level.

Control Points - Points in the process of food preparation when harmful microorganisms can contaminate the food. When conditions such as time, temperature or moisture may  encourage the growth of microorganisms. Food handling practices that prevent foodborne illness are critical at these points.

Contamination - The unintended presence of harmful substances or microorganisms in food.

Cooking - A Point to remind consumers that thorough cooking will destroy harmful bacteria.

Corrective Actions - Actions to be taken when the results of monitoring at the CCP indicate a loss of control.

Critical Control Point (CCP) - A step at which control can be applied and is essential to prevent or eliminate a food safety hazard or reduce it to an acceptable level.

Critical Limit - A criterion which separates acceptability from unacceptability.

Cross Connection - Physical link that connects potable water with an unsafe water source. Backflow can result where contaminated water may enter the potable water system.

Cross-contamination - The transfer of harmful bacteria from one food to another. Harmful bacteria can not only be transferred from food to food, but also from hands to food.

Ciguatera - Also known as cigua-toxin.  Tropical reef fish that consume toxic algae and then consumed by predator fish.  Cannot be destroyed by cooking.

Coving - The curved edge between the wall and the floor to reduce corner and make easier to clean.

Danger Zone - The range of temperatures at which most bacteria multiply rapidly, between 41° F and 135° F.

Detergent - A chemical used to remove grease, dirt and food, such as washing-up liquid.

Disinfectant - A chemical that kills bacteria. Check that surfaces are clean of grease, dirt and food before you use a disinfectant. Chemicals that kill bacteria are sometimes called germicides, bactericides or biocides.

Employee - Any person working in or for a food service establishment who engages in food preparation or service, who transports food or Food containers, or who comes in contact with any food utensils or equipment.

Equipment- All stoves, ranges, hoods, meat blocks, tables, counters, Refrigerators, freezers, sinks, dishwashing machines, steam tables and similar items, other than utensils, used in the operation of a food service establishments.

Escherichia coli 0157:H7 - Strain of enteropathic E. coli found in ground beef, raw milk, chicken.

Exclude Employee - To prevent an employee from food service establishment due to illness.

FATTOM - The six conditions that pathogens need to grow.  Food, Acidity, Time, Temperature, Oxygen, Moisture.

FDA - Food & Drug Administration. Develop the Model Food Code. Lists recommendations for food service regulations.

FIFO - First in, first out.  Rotation of stock during storage.

Food Allergy - the body’s negative reaction to a particular food or foods.

Food borne Illness - A general term often used to describe any disease or illness caused by eating contaminated food or drink.

Food borne infections - These occur when “enough” of the live bacterial cells that have  reproduced in the food, small intestine, or both are consumed. The severity of the infection depends on the virulence of the bacteria, resistance of the victim, and the number of cells that survive digestion.

Food borne intoxications - These result from a poison or toxin produced by reproductive bacterial cells in food or in the human body. Bacterial toxins have varying resistance to heat; some can even survive boiling. Other toxins can be a natural part of the food, for example, certain types of mushrooms.

Food borne Illness Outbreak - The Centers for Disease Control define an outbreak of food borne illness as illness that involves two or more persons who eat a common food, with the food confirmed as the source of the illness by a laboratory analysis. The only exception is that a single case of botulism qualifies as an outbreak.

Food contact surfaces -Surfaces of equipment and utensils with which normally comes in contact, and those surfaces from which food may drain, drip, or splash back onto surfaces normally in contact with Food.

Food poisoning - An illness that occurs when people eat food that has been contaminated with harmful germs (particularly bacteria and viruses) or toxins (poisonous substances).

Food Service Establishment - Any facility, where food is prepared and intended for individual portion service, and includes the site at which individual portions are provided.

Giardiasis - A common parasite from contaminated water.

HACCP - A system which identifies, evaluates, and controls hazards which are significant for food safety.

HACCP Plan - A document prepared in accordance with the principles of HACCP to ensure control of hazards which are significant for food safety in the segment of the food chain under consideration.

Hazard - A biological, chemical or physical agent or factor with the potential to cause an adverse health effect.

Hazard Analysis - The process of collecting and evaluating information on hazards and conditions leading to their presence to decide which are significant for food safety and therefore should be addressed in the HACCP plan.

Hepatitis A - The human disease most easily transmitted to food.  Common from food handlers practicing poor personal hygiene.

Immuno-compromised - An individual with an existing disease or weakened physical condition who may be more susceptible to becoming ill from food borne illness.

Listeriosis - A general term for bacteria, molds, fungus, or viruses that can be seen only with a microscope. Infection with Listeria monocytogenes usually found in vegetables, milk, cheese, meat, seafood.

Moisture content - The amount of water in food.

Monitor - The act of conducting a planned sequence of observations or measurements of control parameters to assess whether a CCP is under control.

MSDS Sheets - Material Safety Data Sheets. List chemical compounds, storage, disposal and first aid treatment. Required for all chemicals in facility.

Norwalk or Noro virus - Virus that contaminates raw oysters/shellfish, water and ice, salads, frosting, person-to-person contact.   Commonly transmitted by poor personal hygiene.

NSF International and UL - Group that test and certify our food service equipment for safety and health standards.

pH - Symbol for degree of acidity or alkalinity of a substance, measured on a scale from 0 to 14.0.

Parasites - These tiny organisms can cause severe illness. Parasites need nutrients from their host to complete their life cycle. They are always associated with raw or undercooked meat and fish, including pork, bear meat and others.

Pathogen - Any disease producing agent, microorganism or germ.

Perishable Foods - Any food of such type or in such condition as may spoil; provided, that foods which are in hermetically sealed containers processed by heat or other means to prevent spoilage and properly packaged, dehydrated, dry or powered foods so low in moisture content as to retard development of microorganism are not considered readily perishable.

Personal hygiene - The way a person maintains their health, appearance and cleanliness.

Physical hazard - The presence of foreign particles, like glass or metal, in foods.

Potentially hazardous food – Also known as TCS foods, time temperature control for food safety. Moist, high-protein, low acid foods (pH of 4.6-7.5) that consist, in whole or in part, of milk or milk products, shell eggs, meats, poultry, fish, shellfish, baked or boiled potatoes, tofu and other soy-protein foods, plant foods that have been heat-treated, raw seed sprouts, or
synthetic ingredients.

Ready –to-eat foods - Foods that require no further cooking.

Restrict Employee - To limit the activities of a food handler from handling food or food contact equipment due to illness.

ROP - Reduced oxygen packaging of foods.

Safe Temperatures - As applies to potentially hazardous foods, means Temperatures of 41 degrees F or below, or 135 degrees F or above.

Sanitizer - A two-in-one product that acts as a detergent and a disinfectant.

Sanitized - Free of harmful levels of disease-causing microorganisms and other potentially harmful contaminants.

Salmonellosis - Infection with Salmonella species. Found in meat, poultry, egg or milk products.

Scombroid - A biological toxin also known as Histamine poison from fish that have been allowed to be time and temperature abused.

Sell-by - Dates used by retailers to guide rotation of shelf stock.

Single-Service Articles - Any cups, containers, closures, plates, straws, place mats, napkins, doilies, spoons, stirrers, paddles, knives, forks, wrapping materials, and all similar articles, which are constructed wholly or in part from paper or paper material, foil, wood, plastic, synthetic or other readily destructible materials, for one time and one person use and then discarded.

Staphylococcus - Toxin produced by certain strains of Staphylococcus aureus; often found in custard or cream-filled baked goods, ham, poultry, eggs, potato salad, cream sauces, sandwich fillings.

Tableware - Multi-use eating and drinking items, including flatware, knives, forks, spoons, glasses, cups, etc.

Temperature - a critical measurement for ensuring the safety and quality of many food products

Water activity - The amount of water that is available for bacterial growth. Water activity ( Aw  ) is the amount of water available for deterioration reactions and is measured on a scale of 0 to 1.0. Bacteria, yeast, and mold multiply rapidly at a high water activity--above 0.86. Meat, produce and soft cheeses have Aw  in this range (between 0.86 and 1.0).

USDA - United States Department of Agriculture. Inspect and grade meats, poultry, dairy and eggs and produce shipped across state lines.

Use by date - Date used to indicate last date product is to be consumed by.

Utensil - Implements such as pots, pans, ladles or food containers used in the preparation, storage, transportation or serving of food. 

Verification - The application of methods, procedures, and tests, in addition to those used in monitoring to determine compliance with the HACCP plan, and/or whether the HACCP plan needs modification.

Viruses - Viruses grow or reproduce only on living cells. They are often found in untreated water or sewage-contaminated water, and viruses from human feces on unwashed hands can infect others by passing the virus to food. Normal cooking may lower the risk of illness but may not destroy all viruses

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Glossary of Computer Crime Terms

 In coming weeks, we'll be looking at the history and current status of different kinds of computer crime techniques. The following glossary will be useful for you as you expand your knowledge of this field. In addition, you have received the Computer Desktop Encyclopedia CD-ROM which has recently been updated with hundreds of security terms.

Back door: secret (undocumented), hard-coded access codes or procedures for accessing information. Some back doors exist in commercially-provided software packages; e.g., consistent (canonical) passwords for third-party software accounts. Alternatively, back doors can be inserted into an existing program or system to provide unauthorized access later. A program with an undocumented access method is an example of a Trojan Horse.

Bot : for “robot” – a program used for a specific function such as keeping a port open or launching a flood of packets in a distributed denial-of-service attack.

Botnet:  a set of bots installed (usually surreptitiously) on a number of victimized computers (zombies or slaves) to launch distributed denial-of-service attacks or to send spam.

Cracking: malicious or criminal hacking. Unauthorized penetration of computer systems and networks, abuse of privilege, unauthorized use of services.

Data diddling : modifying data for fun and profit; e.g., modifying grades, changing credit ratings, altering security clearance information, fixing salaries, or circumventing book-keeping and audit regulations.

Data leakage : uncontrolled, unauthorized transmission of classified information from a data centre or computer system to the outside. Such leakage can be accomplished by physical removal of data storage devices (diskettes, tapes, listings, printouts and photographs of screen copies or handwritten notes) or by more subtle means such as data hiding (steganography) or even plain old human memory.

Denial-of-service (DoS) attack: overwhelming or saturating resources on a target system to cause a reduction of availability to legitimate users. On the Internet, usually involves spoofing packets or e-mail headers.

Distributed DoS (DDoS) attack : Internet-mediated attack accomplished by enlisting the services of many compromised systems to launch a denial of service (DoS).

DNS cache poisoning:  modifying data in a Domain Name System (DNS) server so that calls to particular Websites or even entire domains are misdirected for fraudulent purposes.

Easter egg : undocumented, unauthorized program functions in a production program; a kind of Trojan Horse.

Exploit : a method for exploiting a vulnerability to take control of a system or otherwise compromise it. Exploits are sometimes automated in scripts.

Hacking : for many years, a noble endeavor involving intense study, dedicated analysis and hands-on learning about any technical field, including computing. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of computer hobbyists worldwide, since the early 1980s, thanks largely to the ignorance of undereducated journalists, the term has become almost synonymous with cracking. Some die-hards continue the battle by referring to “criminal  hacking” but it’s probably too late to reverse the shift in meaning.

Hacktivism (sometimes spelled hactivism): politically- or ideologically-motivated vandalism. Defacing a Web site for no particular reason is vandalism; the same defacement to post political propaganda or to cause harm to an ideological opponent is hacktivism.

Identity theft : creating a false identity using someone else’s identifying information (e.g.,  name, Social Security Number, birthday) to create new credit cards or establish loans which then go into default and affect the original victim’s credit record.

Impersonation : pretending to be authorized to enter a secure location. Examples include swaggering into a site equipped with what look like tool kits of the manufacturer of computer equipment, or pretending to be a janitor. Impersonation is a key element of social engineering.

Latency : the period during which a time bomb, logic bomb, virus or worm refrains from overt activity or damage (delivery of the payload). Long latency coupled with vigorous reproduction can result in severe consequences for infected or otherwise compromised systems.

Logic bomb : A program in which damage (the payload) is delivered when a particular logical condition occurs; e.g., not having the author's name in the payroll file. Logic bombs are a kind of Trojan Horse; time bombs are a type of logic bomb. Most viruses are logic bombs.

Mail-bombing: sending large numbers of unwanted e-mail messages to a single recipient or to a group of such recipients. To be distinguished from spamming. Mail-bombing is a form of denial of service.

Malware : malicious software, including Trojan Horses, viruses, worms, logic bombs, exploits and time bombs.

Master program : in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, a program that communicates with implanted zombie or slave programs on compromised systems. The master program usually transmits encrypted instructions to zombies with details of which targeted system to swamp with junk transmissions at exactly what time.

Payload : the unauthorized activities of malicious software.

Penetration : unauthorized access to restricted systems or resources.

Piggybacking : entering secure premises by following an authorized person through the security grid; also unauthorized access to information by using a terminal that is already logged on with an authorized ID (identification).

Pharming : misdirecting traffic from one Website to a Website controlled by a criminal hacker by altering the domain name system (e.g., by DNS cache poisoning) or by altering configuration files on a victim’s computer.

Phishing : using a forged or spoofed e-mail or Web site that imitates or duplicates an official communication or page to trick victims into revealing logon or other confidential information that can be used for penetration, financial fraud or identity theft.

Root kit: a script or set of scripts for gaining unauthorized root privileges (or equivalent supervisory powers) on a compromised system. Much used by script kiddies.

Sabotage : the word comes from the French for wooden shoe (sabot). Such footwear made a handy weapon for throwing into the gears of new mechanical systems that were causing unemployment during the industrial revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. The term now means any deliberate damage to operations or equipment.

Salami theft: technique of accumulating round-off errors or other small quantities in calculations and saving them up for later withdrawal; usually applied to money, although it can be part of an inventory-theft scheme (for example).

Scavenging: using discarded listings, tapes, or other information storage media to determine useful information such as access codes, passwords, or sensitive data. Finding a listing for the source code for a new version of a popular proprietary program could be highly profitable for a computer crook. Also known as Dumpster® diving.

Scripts: any simple program, especially using a scripting or macro language; in computer crime work, however, scripts usually refer to automated systems for executing exploits.

Simulation: using computers to simulate a complex system in order to defraud it; e.g., inventing transactions to produce a pre-arranged bottom line in a financial report.

Spamming : a popular name for e-mail sent to many unwilling recipients in order to sell products or services (or sometimes to cheat naïve customers). Those wishing to avoid offending the innocent Hormel Corporation, owners of the Spam® trademark, may refer to this indiscriminate bulk e-mail as junk e-mail or as UCE (unsolicited commercial email).

Spim : spam over instant messenger

Spit : spam over internet telephony

Spoofing: using incorrect identification; usually applied to electronic misrepresentation such as putting the wrong originating address on a TCP/IP packet. Much used in denial- of-service (DoS) and distributed DoS (DDoS) attacks.

Superzapping: using powerful utility software (originally the superzap utility on IBM mainframes) to access secure information while bypassing normal controls. Debug programs, and disk editors are examples of tools used for superzapping.

Time bomb: program or batch file waits for a specific time before causing damage. Often used by disgruntled and dishonest employees who find out they're to be fired or by dishonest consultants who put unauthorized time-outs into their programs without notifying their clients. Logic bombs and time bombs are Trojan Horse programs; time bombs are a type of logic bomb.

Trojan horse: innocent-looking program that has undocumented and nefarious functions. So called by reference to Odysseus' wooden horse filled with soldiers that helped to capture Troy. Trojan Horse programs can, for example, alter data in a particular way, record passwords for later inspection, send confidential information to unauthorizeddestinations or open back doors into compromised systems.

Vandalism: obvious, unauthorized, malicious modification or destruction of data such as information on Web sites.

Virus: Viruses infect executable code such as programs (e.g., .EXE and .COM files under DOS), boot sectors on disks and macro programs. The viral code reproduces with the host code is loaded into memory. So called by analogy with biological viruses, which subvert the functions of normal cells. Viruses are similar to worms but reside inside programs at all times. A virus can transform an ordinary program into an unintended Trojan horse.

Vulnerability: a weakness or flaw permitting an attack on a computer system or network.

Wiretapping: eavesdropping on data or voice transmissions by attaching unauthorized equipment or software to the communications medium (in the case of wires, coaxial metal cables and optical cables) or by intercepting and interpreting broadcast data (in the case of wireless phones, cellular phones, and wireless networks).

Worm: program which spreads through a computer system or network by replicating (like a virus) but without integrating itself into other executable code.

Zombie : a program inserted into a vulnerable system to await further instructions; usually part of a distributed denial-of service (DDoS) attack.

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Glossary of Hospitality/Tourism Terms

ABA - American Bus Association; comprised of bus companies, operators and owners

Attendance Building - Marketing and promotional programs designed to increase attendance at conventions, trade shows, meetings, and events.

Attractions - General all-0inclusive term travel industry marketers use to refer to products that have visitor appeal, like museums, historic sites, performing arts institutions, preservation districts, theme parks, entertainment and national sites.

AVHRM - Association of Vacation Home Rental Managers.

Bed Tax (Transient Occupancy Tax of TOT) - City or county tax added to the price of a hotel room.

Blocked - Hotel rooms held without deposit

Booked - Hotel rooms, airline tickets or other travel services held for a specific client.

Booking - Term used to refer to a completed sale by a destination, convention center, facility, hotel or supplier (i.e. convention, meeting, trade show or group business booking).

Business Travel - Travel for commercial, governmental or educational purposes with leisure as a secondary motivation.

Buyer - A member of the travel trade who reserves room blocks from accommodations or coordinates the development of a travel product.

Carrier - Any provider of mass transportation, usually used in reference to an airline.

Chambers of Commerce - Typically, a Chamber of Commerce will specialize in local economic development that can include tourism promotion.

Charter Group - Group travel in which a previously organized group travels together, usually on a custom itinerary.

C of C - Chamber of Commerce

Commissions - A percent of the total product cost paid to travel agents and other travel product distributors for selling the product to the consumer.

Convention and Visitors Bureau - These organizations are local tourism marketing organizations specializing in developing conventions, meetings, conferences and visitations to a city, county or region.

Conventions and Trade Shows - Major segment of travel industry business. Trade shows differ from conventions in that they have exhibit space that provides product exhibition and sales opportunities for suppliers, as well as information gathering and buying opportunities for customers.

Conversion Study - Research study to analyze whether advertising respondents actually were converted to travelers as a result of advertising and follow-up material.

Co-op Advertising - Advertising funded by two or more destinations and /or suppliers.

Cooperative Marketing - Marketing programs involving two or more participating companies, institutions or organizations.

Cooperative Partner - An independent firm or organization which works with a tourism office by providing cash or in-kind contributions to expand the marketing impact of the tourism officeÕs program.

Cover - Each diner at a restaurant.

CTRLA - Car and Truck Rental and Leasing Association.

CVB - Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Destination - A hotel, resort, attraction, city, region, or state.

Destination Marketing - Marketing a city, state, country, area or region to consumers and trade.

Destination Marketing Organization - Local tourism marketing organizations, such as convention and visitors bureaus or chambers of commerce.

Discounted Fare - Negotiated air fare for convention, trade show, meeting, group and corporate travel.

Discover America - Theme used by the Travel Industry Association and its marketing partners to market travel within the United States.

Fam Tours - Organized trips for travel agents, tour operators, tour wholesalers or other members of the travel trade for the purpose of educating and “familiarizing” them with tourism destinations. By seeing the destinations where they are sending travelers, the travel trade is better prepared to answer customer questions and promote travel to the location. Also called “fams” or “familiarization tours.”

Feeder Airport/City - An outlying city which feeds travelers to hubs or gateway cities.

FIT (Free Independent Travel) - Individual travel in which a tour operator has previously arranged blocks of rooms at various destinations in advance for use by individual travelers. These travelers travel independently, not in a group, usually by rental car or public transportation.

Frequency - The number of times an advertisement appears during a given campaign.

Fulfillment - Servicing consumers and trade who request information as a result of advertising or promotional programs. Service often includes an 800 number, sales staff and distribution of materials.

Gateway or Gateway City - A major airport, seaport, rail or bus center through which tourists and travelers enter from outside the region.

GIT (Groups Independent Travel) - Group travel in which individuals purchase a group package in which they will travel with others along a pre-set itinerary.

Group Rate - Negotiated hotel rate for convention, trade show, meeting, tour or incentive group.

Head in Beds - Industry slang referring to the primary marketing objective of accommodations and most destinations - increasing the number of overnight stays.

Hospitality Industry - Another term for the travel industry.

Hub - An airport or city which serves as a central connecting point for aircraft, trains or buses from outlying feeder airports or cities.

Hub and Spoke - Air carriers use of selected cities as “hubs” or connected points for service on their systems to regional destinations.

Icon - A facility or landmark which is visually synonymous with a destination.

Incentive Travel - Travel offered as a reward for top performance and the business that develops, markets and operates these programs.

Inclusive Tour - A tour program that includes a variety of feature for a single rate (airfare, accommodations, sightseeing, performances, etc.)

International Marketing - Marketing a destination, product or service to consumers and the trade outside the of the United States.

Leisure Travel - Travel for recreational, educational, sightseeing, relaxing and other experiential purposes.

Market Share - The percentage of business within a market category.

Market Volume - The total number of travelers within a market category.

Mission (Sales) - A promotional and sales trip coordinated by a state travel office, conventional and visitors bureau or key industry member to increase product awareness, sales and to enhance image. Target audiences may include tour operators, wholesales, incentive travel planners, travel agents, meeting planners, convention and trade show managers and media. Missions often cover several international or domestic destinations and include private and public sector participants. Mission components can include receptions, entertainment representatives of the destination, presentations and pre-scheduled sales and media calls.

Motorcoach - Deluxe equipment used by most tour operators in group tour programs.
Amenities include reclining seats, bathrooms, air conditioning, good lighting and refreshment availability.

Net Rate - The rate provided to wholesalers and tour operators that can be marked up to sell to the customer.

No Show - A customer with a reservation at a restaurant, hotel, etc. who fails to show up and does not cancel.

NTA - National Tour Association, comprised of domestic tour operators.

Occupancies - A percentage indicating the number of bed nights sold (compared to number available) in a hotel, resort, motel or destination.

Package - A fixed price salable travel product that makes it easy for a traveler to buy and enjoy a destination or several destinations. Packages offer a mix of elements like transportation, accommodations, restaurants, entertainment, cultural activities, sightseeing and car rental.

Peaks and Valleys - The high and low end of the travel season. Travel industry marketers plan programs to build consistent year-round business and event out the “peaks and valleys.”

Person Trip Visit - Every time a person travels more than 100 miles (round-trip) in a day or stays overnight away from their primary domicile, whether for business or leisure purposes, they make one “person trip visit.”

Pow Wow - The largest international travel marketplace held in the United States, sponsored by the Travel Industry Association of America.

Press/Publicity Release - A news article or feature story written by the subject of the story for delivery and potential placement in the media.

Press Trips - Organized trips for travel writers and broadcasters for the purpose of assisting them in developing stories about tourism destinations. Often, journalists travel independently, though with the assistance of a state’s office of tourism of a DMO.

Property - A hotel, motel, inn, lodge or other accommodation facility.

Rack Rate - The rate accommodations quote to the public. Group rates, convention, trade show, meeting and incentive travel rates are negotiated by the hotel and program organizers.

Reach - The percentage of people within a specific target audience reached by an advertising campaign.

Receptive Operator - Specialists in handling arrangements for incoming visitors at a destination including airport transfers, local sightseeing, restaurants, accommodations, etc. Receptive operators can be a travel agent or tour operator.

Repeat Business - Business that continues to return, thereby generating increased profits.

Reservation Systems (Automation Vendors) - Computerized systems leased to travel agencies offering airline, hotel, car rental and selected tour availability and bookings.
Systems are affiliated with major carriers, including American (Sabre), United (Apollo), Eastern (System One), TWA (PARS), and Delta (DATAS II) and feature flight schedules of the sponsoring and other carriers, plus additional travel products.

Retail Agent - A travel agent.

Retailer - Another term for travel agents who sell travel products directly to consumers.

Room - Double: No guarantee of two beds; Double Double: Two double beds (or two queens or kings); Twin: Two twin beds (or two doubles or queens)

Room Blocks - Several rooms held for a group.

Sales Mission - Where suppliers from one DMO travel together to another state of country for the purpose of collectively promoting travel to their area. Sales missions may include educational seminars for travel agents and tour operators.

Sales Seminar - An educational session in which travel agents, tour operators, tour wholesales or other members of the travel trade congregate to receive briefings about tourism destinations.

Shells - A marketing and sales promotional piece that depicts a destination, accommodation or attraction on the cover and provides space for copy to be added at a later date. Usually shells fit a #10 envelope.

Site Inspection - An assessment tour of a destination or facility by a meeting planner, convention or trade show manager, site selection committee, tour operator, wholesaler or incentive travel manager to see if it meets their needs and requirements prior to selecting a specific site for an event. After site selection, a site inspection may be utilized to make arrangements.

Spouse Program - Special activities planned for those who accompany an attendee to a convention, trade show or meeting. Note that programs today are not simply for women, but rather for men and women, spouses and friends. Programs must be creatively designed to interest intelligent and curious audiences.

Supplier - Those businesses that provide industry products like accommodations, transportation, car rentals, restaurants and attractions.

Target Audience/Market - A specific demographic, sociographic target at which marketing communications are directed.

Target Rating Points - TRPÕs are a statistical measurement which allows one to evaluate the relative impact of differing advertising campaigns.

Tariff - Rate of fare quoted and published by a travel industry supplier (i.e. hotels, tour operators, etc.) Usually an annual tariff is produced in booklet form for use in sales calls at trade shows.

TIA - Travel Industry Association of America.

TOT - Transient Occupancy Tax.

Tour Operator - Develops, markets and operates group travel programs that provide a complete travel experience for one price and includes transportation (airline, rail, motorcoach, and/or ship), accommodations, sightseeing, selected meals and an escort. Tour operators market directly to the consumer, through travel agents and are beginning to be listed on computerized reservation systems.

Tour Wholesaler - An individual or company that sells tour packages and tour product to travel agents. Tour wholesalers usually receive a 20% discount from accommodations, transportation companies and attractions and pass on a 10 to 15% discount to the retail agent.

Tourism - Leisure travel.

Tourist/Visitor/Traveler - Any person who travels either for leisure or business purposes more than 100 miles (round-trip) in a day or who stays overnight away from his/her primary domicile.

Transient Occupancy Tax - TOT or bed tax is a locally set tax on the cost of commercial accommodations and campgrounds.

Travel - Leisure and other travel including travel for business, medical care, education, etc. All tourism is travel, but not all travel is tourism.

Travel Agent - An individual who arranges travel for individuals or groups. Travel agents may be generalists or specialists (cruises, adventure travel, conventions and meetings.) The agents receive a 10 to 15% commission from accommodations, transportation companies and attractions for coordinating the booking of travel. They typically coordinate travel for their customers at the same or lower cost than if the customer booked the travel on his/her own.

Travel Product - Refers to any product or service that is bought by or sold to consumers of trade including accommodations, attractions, events, restaurants, transportation, etc.

Travel Seasons - Travel industry business cycles including:
Peak: Primary travel season
Off Peak: Period when business is slowest
Shoulder: Period between peak and off peak periods when business is stronger, but has room for growth.

Travel Trade - The collective term for tour operators, wholesalers and travel agents.

Traveler - Definitions very, but in general a traveler is someone who leaves their own economic trade area, (usually going a distance of a minimum of fifty to one hundred miles) and stays overnight.

Visitors Center - Travel information center located at a destination to make it easier for visitors to plan their stay; often operated by a convention and visitors bureau, chamber of commerce or tourism promotion organization.

Vouchers - Forms or coupons provided to a traveler who purchases a tour that indicate that certain tour components have been prepaid. Vouchers are then exchanged for tour components like accommodations, meals, sightseeing, theater tickets, etc. during the actual trip.

Wholesaler - Develop and markets inclusive tours and individual travel programs to the consumer through travel agents. Wholesalers do not sell directly to the public.

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Glossary of Reading Terms

Accuracy (part of fluency): Reading words in text with no errors.

Academically Engaged : Students are academically engaged when they are participating in activities/instruction in a meaningful way and understanding the tasks in which they are involved.

Advanced Phonics: Strategies for decoding multisyllabic words that include morphology and information about the meaning, pronunciation, and parts of speech of words gained from knowledge of prefixes, roots, and suffixes.

Affix: A general term that refers to prefixes and suffixes.

After Reading Comprehension Strategies: Strategies that require the reader to actively transform key information in text that has been read (e.g., summarizing, retelling).

Aligned Materials : Student materials (texts, activities, manipulatives, homework, etc.) that reinforce classroom instruction of specific skills in reading.

Alliteration: The repetition of the initial phoneme of each word in connected text (e.g., Harry the happy hippo hula-hoops with Henrietta).

Alphabetic Principle: The concept that letters and letter combinations represent individual phonemes in written words.

Ample Opportunities for Student Practice: Students are asked to apply what they have been taught in order to accomplish specific reading tasks. Practice should follow in a logical relationship with what has just been taught. Once skills are internalized, students are provided with more opportunities to independently implement previously learned information.

Analogy: Comparing two sets of words to show some common similarity between the sets. When done as a vocabulary exercise this requires producing one of the words (e.g., cat is to kitten: as dog is to _____?).

Antonym: A word opposite in meaning to another word.

Automaticity: Reading without conscious effort or attention to decoding.

Background Knowledge: Forming connections between the text and the information and experiences of the reader.

Base Word: A unit of meaning that can stand alone as a whole word (e.g., friend, pig). Also called a free morpheme.

Before Reading Comprehension Strategies: Strategies employed to emphasize the importance of preparing students to read text (e.g., activate prior knowledge, set a purpose for reading).

Blending: The task of combining sounds rapidly, to accurately represent the word.

Bloom’s Taxonomy: A system for categorizing levels of abstraction of questions that commonly occur in educational settings. Includes the following competencies: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Chunked Text: Continuous text that has been separated into meaningful phrases often with the use of single and double slash marks (/ and //). The intent of using chunked text or chunking text is to give children an opportunity to practice reading phrases fluently. There is no absolute in chunking text. Teachers should use judgment when teaching students how to chunk. Generally, slash marks are made between subject and predicate, and before and after prepositional phrases.

Chunking: A decoding strategy for breaking words into manageable parts (e.g., /yes /ter/ day). Chunking also refers to the process of dividing a sentence into smaller phrases where pauses might occur naturally (e.g., When the sun appeared after the storm, / the newly fallen snow /shimmered like diamonds).

Coaching: A professional development process of supporting teachers in implementing new classroom practices by providing new content and information, modeling related teaching strategies, and offering on-going feedback as teachers master new practices.

Coarticulation: When saying words our mouth is always ready for the next sound to be made. While saying one sound, the lips, tongue, etc., are starting to form the sound to follow. This can distort individual sounds during speech because the sounds are not produced in isolated units (e.g., ham- the /m/ blends with the /a/ to distort the vowel). This process is called coarticulation.

Because of coarticulation, some children have difficulty hearing the individual sounds in words and the concept of phonemes needs to be explicitly brought to their attention through instruction.

Cognates: Words that are related to each other by virtue of being derived from a common origin (e.g., ‘decisive’ and ‘decision’).

Coherent Instructional Design: A logical, sequential, plan for delivering instruction.

Comprehension: Understanding what one is reading, the ultimate goal of all reading activity.

Comprehensive/Core Reading Program (CRP): is the initial instructional tool teachers use to teach children to learn to read including instruction in the five components of reading identified by the National Reading Panel (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension), spelling, and writing to ensure they reach reading levels that meet or exceed grade-level standards. A CRP should address the instructional needs of the majority of students in a respective school or district.

Comprehensive Intervention Reading Program (CIRP): These programs are intended for students who are reading one or more years below grade level, and who are struggling with a broad range of reading skills. Comprehensive Intervention Programs
include instructional content based on the five essential components of reading instruction integrated into a coherent instructional design. A coherent design includes explicit instructional strategies, coordinated instructional sequences, ample practice opportunities and aligned student materials. Comprehensive Intervention Programs provide instruction that is more intensive, explicit, systematic, and more motivating than instruction students have previously received. These programs also provide more frequent assessments of student progress and more systematic review in order to insure proper pacing of instruction and mastery of all instructional components.

Comprehension Monitoring: An awareness of one’s understanding of text being read. Comprehension monitoring is part of metacognition “thinking about thinking” know what is clear and what is confusing as the reader and having the capabilities to make repairs to problems with comprehension.

Comprehension Questions: Address the meaning of text, ranging from literal to inferential to analytical.

Concept Definition Mapping: Provides a visual framework for organizing conceptual information in the process of defining a word or concept. The framework contains the category, properties, and examples of the word or concept.

Connected Text: Words that are linked (as opposed to words in a list) as in sentences, phrases, and paragraphs.

Consonant Blend: Two or more consecutive consonants which retain their individual sounds (e.g., /bl/ in block; /str/ in string).

Consonant Digraph: Two consecutive consonants that represent one phoneme, or sound (e.g., /ch/, /sh/).

Context Clue: Using words or sentences around an unfamiliar word to help clarify its meaning.

Continuous Sounds: A sound that can be held for several seconds without distortion (e.g., /m/, /s/).

Continuum of Word Types: Words can be classified by type according to their relative difficulty to decode. Typically this continuum is listed from easy to difficult, beginning with VC and CVC words that begin with continuous sounds and progressing to CCCVC and CCCVCC words.

Coordinated instructional sequences: take into consideration how information is selected, sequenced, organized, and practiced.  Coordinated instructional sequences occur within each component of reading where a logical progression of skills would be evident: easier skills are introduced before more difficult skills, so that skills build progressively.

The other way coordinated instructional sequences are evident is in the clear and meaningful relationship or linking of instruction across the five components of reading: phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension. If students orally segment and blend words with the letter-sound /f/ during phonemic awareness instruction, then we would expect to see it followed by practice in connecting the sound /f/ with the letter f. This would be followed by fluency practice in reading words, sentences, and/or passages with the letter-sound /f/. Spelling practice would include /f/ and other previously learned letter-sounds.

Core Instruction is instruction provided to all students in the class, and it is usually guided by a comprehensive core reading program. Part of the core instruction is usually provided to the class as a whole, and part is provided during the small group,
differentiated instruction period. Although instruction is differentiated by student need during the small group period, materials and lesson procedures from the core program can frequently be used to provide reteaching, or additional teaching to students
according to their needs.

Cumulative: Instruction that builds upon previously learned concepts.

Decodable Text: Text in which a high proportion of words (80%-90%) comprise sound symbol relationships that have already been taught. It is used for the purpose of providing practice with specific decoding skills and is a bridge between learning phonics and the application of phonics in independent reading.

Decodable Words: These words contain phonic elements that were previously taught.

Decoding: The ability to translate a word from print to speech, usually by employing knowledge of sound symbol correspondences; also the act of deciphering a new word by sounding it out.

Derivational Affix: A prefix or suffix added to a root or base to form another word (e.g., - un in unhappy , -ness in likeness).

Diagnostic: Tests that can be used to measure a variety of reading, language, or cognitive skills. Although they can be given as soon as a screening test indicates a child is behind in reading growth, they will usually be given only if a child fails to make adequate progress after being given extra help in learning to read. They are designed to provide a more precise and detailed picture of the full range of a child’s knowledge and skill so that instruction can be more precisely planned.

Dialogic Reading: During story reading, the teacher/parent asks questions, adds information, and prompts student to increase sophistication of responses by expanding on his/her utterances.

Differentiated Instruction: Matching instruction to meet the different needs of learners in a given classroom.

Difficult Words: Some words are difficult because they contain phonic elements that have not yet been taught. Others are difficult because they contain letter-sound correspondences that are unique to that word (e.g., yacht).

Digraphs: A group of two consecutive letters whose phonetic value is a single sound (e.g., /ea/ in bread; /ch/ in chat; /ng/ in sing).

Diphthong: A vowel produced by the tongue shifting position during articulation; a vowel that feels as if it has two parts, especially the vowels spelled ow, oy, ou, and oi.

Direct Instruction: The teacher defines and teaches a concept, guides students through its application, and arranges for extended guided practice until mastery is achieved.

Direct Vocabulary Instruction: Planned instruction to pre-teach new, important, and difficult words to ensure the quantity and quality of exposures to words that students will encounter in their reading.

During Reading Comprehension Strategies: Strategies that help students engage the meanings of a text (e.g., asking questions at critical junctures; modeling the thought process used to make inferences; constructing mental imagery).

Elkonin Boxes: A framework used during phonemic awareness instruction. Elkonin Boxes are sometimes referred to as Sound Boxes. When working with words, the teacher can draw one box per sound for a target word. Students push a marker into one box as they segment each sound in the word.

Emergent Literacy: The skills, knowledge, and attitudes that are developmental precursors to conventional forms of reading and writing.

Empirical Research: Refers to scientifically based research that applies rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain valid knowledge. This includes research that: employs systematic, empirical methods that draw on observation or experiment; has been accepted by a peer-reviewed journal or approved by a panel of independent experts through a comparably rigorous, objective and scientific review; involves rigorous data analyses that are adequate to test the stated hypotheses and justify the general conclusions drawn; relies on measurements or observational methods that provide valid
data across evaluators and observers and across multiple measurements and observations; and can be generalized.

English Language Learners: Defined by the U.S. Department of Education as national-origin-minority students who are limited-English-proficient. Often abbreviated as ELLs.

Error Correction: Immediate corrective feedback during reading instruction.

Etymology: The origin of a word and the historical development of its meaning (e.g., the origin of our word etymology comes from late Middle English: from Old French ethimologie, via Latin from Greek etumologia, from etumologos ‘student of etymology,’ from etumon, neuter singular of etumos ‘true’).

Explicit: Explicit instruction involves direct explanation. The teacher’s language is concise, specific, and related to the objective. Another characteristic of explicit instruction is a visible instructional approach which includes a high level of
teacher/student interaction. Explicit instruction means that the actions of the teacher are clear, unambiguous, direct, and visible. This makes it clear what the students are to do and learn. Nothing is left to guess work.

Expository Text: Reports factual information (also referred to as informational text) and the relationships among ideas. Expository text tends to be more difficult for students than narrative text because of the density of long, difficult, and unknown words or word parts.

Expressive Language: Language that is spoken.

Fidelity of Implementation: The degree to which instruction follows the intent and design of the program.

Figurative Meanings: Language that departs from its literal meaning (e.g., The snow sparkled like diamonds; That child is a handful.).

Five Components of Reading: Phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

Flexible Grouping: Grouping students according to shared instructional needs and abilities and regrouping as their instructional needs change. Group size and allocated instructional time may vary among groups.

Floss Rule: Words of one syllable, ending in “f”, “l”, or “s” - after one vowel, usually end in “ff”, “ll”, or “ss” (sounds /f/, /l/, /s/).

Fluency: Ability to read text quickly, accurately, and with proper expression. Fluency provides a bridge between word recognition and comprehension.

Fluency Probe: An assessment for measuring fluency, usually a timed oral reading passage at the student’s instructional reading level.

Formal Assessment: Follows a prescribed format for administration and scoring. Scores obtained from formal tests are standardized, meaning that interpretation is based on norms from a comparative sample of children.

Frayer Model: An adaptation of the concept map. The framework of the Frayer Model includes: the concept word, the definition, characteristics of the concept word, examples of the concept word, and non-examples of the concept word. It is important to include both examples and non-examples, so students are able to identify what the concept word is and what the concept word is not.

Frustrational Reading Level: The level at which a reader reads at less than a 90% accuracy (i.e., no more than one error per 10 words read). Frustration level text is difficult text for the reader.

Generalization: The ability to use a learned skill in novel situations.

Grapheme: A letter or letter combination that spells a phoneme; can be one, two, three, or four letters in English (e.g., e, ei, igh, eigh).

Graphic Organizers: A visual framework or structure for capturing the main points of what is being read, which may include concepts, ideas, events, vocabulary, or generalizations. Graphic organizers allow ideas in text and thinking processes to
become external by showing the interrelatedness of ideas, thus facilitating understanding for the reader. The structure of a graphic organizer is determined by the structure of the kind of text being read.

Graphophonemic: The relationship between letters and phonemes.

Guided Oral Reading: Instructional support including immediate corrective feedback as students read orally.

Guided Practice: Students practice newly learned skills with the teacher providing prompts and feedback.

High Frequency Irregular Words: Words in print containing letters that stray from the most common sound pronunciation because they do not follow common phonic patterns (e.g., were, was, laugh, been).

High Frequency Words: A small group of words (300-500) that account for a large percentage of the words in print and can be regular or irregular words (i.e., Dolch or Fry). Often, they are referred to as “sight words” since automatic recognition of these words is required for fluent reading.

Homograph: Words that are spelled the same but have different origins and meanings. They may or may not be pronounced the same (e.g., can as in a metal container/can as in able to).

Homonym: Words that sound the same but are spelled differently (e.g., cents/sense, knight/night).

Homophone: Words that may or may not be spelled alike but are pronounced the same. These words are of different origins and have different meanings (e.g., ate and eight; scale as in the covering of a fish; and scale as in a device used to weigh things)

Idiom: A phrase or expression that differs from the literal meaning of the words; a regional or individual expression with a unique meaning (e.g., it’s raining cats and dogs).

Immediate Corrective Feedback: When an error occurs, the teacher immediately attends to it by scaffolding instruction (i.e., gradual release of responsibility).

Immediate Intensive Intervention: Instruction that may include more time, more opportunities for student practice, more teacher feedback, smaller group size, and different materials. It is implemented as soon as assessment indicates that students are not making adequate progress in reading.

Implicit Instruction: The opposite of explicit instruction. Students discover skills and concepts instead of being explicitly taught. For example, the teacher writes a list of words on the board that begin with the letter “m” (mud, milk, meal, and mattress) and asks the students how the words are similar. The teacher elicits from the students that the letter “m” stands for the sound you hear at the beginning of the words.

Important Words: Unknown words that are critical to passage understanding and which students are likely to encounter in the future.

Independent Reading Level: The level at which a reader can read text with 95% accuracy (i.e., no more than one error per 20 words read). Independent reading level is relatively easy text for the reader.

Independent-Instructional Reading Level Range: The reading range that spans instructional and independent reading levels or level of text that a student can read with 90% to 95% or above accuracy.

Indirect Vocabulary Instruction: Words learned through independent reading and conversation.

Inflectional Suffix: In English, a suffix that expresses plurality or possession when added to a noun, tense when added to a verb, and comparison when added to an adjective and some adverbs. A major difference between inflectional and derivational
morphemes is that inflections added to verbs, nouns, or adjectives do not change the grammatical role or part of speech of the base words (-s, -es ,-ing, ¬ed).

Informal Assessment: Does not follow prescribed rules for administration and scoring and has not undergone technical scrutiny for reliability and validity. Teacher-made tests, end-of-unit tests, and running records are all examples of informal assessment.

Informational Text: Non-fiction books, also referred to as expository text, that contain facts and information.

Initial Instruction: First line of defense to prevent reading failure for all students. Instruction is provided in the whole group (class) and small group (differentiated) setting. A core reading program is the instructional tool used for initial instruction in Florida’s Reading First initiative.

Instructional design: Instructional design in reading refers to the process of translating key learning objectives and goals into a delivery system to meet those goals. When we discuss the instructional design of a reading program, we are referring to the underlying framework of a reading program, the way the curriculum is constructed.

Instructional Reading Level: The level at which a reader can read text with 90% accuracy (i.e., no more than one error per 10 words read). Instructional reading level engages the student in challenging, but manageable text.

Instructional Routines: include the following sequence of steps
Explicit instruction
Modeling
Guided practice
Student practice, application, and feedback
Generalization

Intensity: Focused instruction where students are academically engaged with the content and the teacher and receive more opportunities to practice with immediate teacher feedback.

Intervention Instruction is provided only to students who are lagging behind their classmates in the development of critical reading skills. This instruction will usually be guided by a specific intervention program that focuses on one or more of the key areas of reading development. This type of instruction is needed by only a relatively small minority of students in a class. In some cases, students in 2nd and 3rd grade may have lagged so far behind grade level development of reading skills that very little content from the grade level comprehensive core program is suitable for them. In these cases, students may need to receive instruction guided by a comprehensive intervention program that is specifically designed to meet their specific needs while at the same time accelerating their growth toward grade level reading ability.

Intervention Program: Provides content for instruction that is intended for flexible use as part of differentiated instruction and/or more intensive instruction to meet student learning needs in one or more of the specific areas of reading (phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension). These programs are used to provide targeted, intensive intervention for small groups of struggling readers.

Invented Spelling: An attempt to spell a word based on a student’s knowledge of the spelling system and how it works (e.g., kt for cat).

Irregular Words: Words that contain letters that stray from the most common sound pronunciation; words that do not follow common phonic patterns (e.g., were, was, laugh, been).

K-W-L: A technique used most frequently with expository text to promote comprehension. It can be used as a type of graphic organizer in the form of a chart, and it consists of a 3-step process: What I Know (accessing prior knowledge), What I Want to Know (setting a purpose for reading), and What I Learned (recalling what has been read).

Learning Communities: A group in which educators commit to ongoing learning experiences with a deliberate intent to transform teaching and learning at their school or within their district.

Letter Combinations: Also referred to as digraphs, a group of consecutive letters that represents a particular sound(s) in the majority of words in which it appears (e.g., /ai/ in maid; /ch/ in chair; /ar/ in car; /kn/ in know; /ng/ in ring).

Letter-Sound Correspondence: The matching of an oral sound to its corresponding letter or group of letters.

Linked: A clear connection among the objectives of what is taught within and across reading components (e.g., students learn some common letter sounds during phonics instruction, then read words that use those same letter sounds to practice fluency and develop vocabulary).

Listening Vocabulary: The words needed to understand what is heard.

Literal Comprehension: Understanding of the basic facts that the student has read.

Main Idea: The central thought or message of a reading passage.

Metacognition: An awareness of one’s own thinking processes and how they work. The process of consciously thinking about one’s learning or reading while actually being engaged in learning or reading. Metacognitive strategies can be taught to students; good readers use metacognitive strategies to think about and have control over their reading.

Modeling: Teacher overtly demonstrates a strategy, skill, or concept that students will be learning.

Morpheme: The smallest meaningful unit of language.

Morphemic Analysis: An analysis of words formed by adding prefixes, suffixes or other meaningful word units to a base word.

Most Common Letter Sounds: The sound that is usually pronounced for the letter when it appears in a short word, such as /a/ apple...

Multisyllabic Words: These are words with more than one syllable. A systematic introduction of prefixes, suffixes, and multisyllabic words should occur throughout a reading program. The average number of syllables in the words students read should increase steadily throughout the grades.

Narrative Text: A story about fictional or real events.

Objectives: Measurable statements detailing the desired accomplishments of a program.

Oddities: Vowels that are pronounced differently from the expected pronunciation (e.g., the “o” in old is pronounced /ō/ instead of the expected /o/.

Onset and Rime: In a syllable, the onset is the initial consonant or consonants, and the rime is the vowel and any consonants that follow it (e.g., the word sat, the onset is “s” and the rime is “at”. In the word flip, the onset is “fl” and the rime is “ip”).

Oral Language: Spoken language. There are five components of oral language: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.

Orthographic Units: The representation of the sounds of a language by written or printed symbols.

Orthography: A writing system for representing language.

Outcome Assessment: Given at the end of the year for two purposes. First, they can help the principal and teachers in a school evaluate the overall effectiveness of their reading program for all students. Second, they are required in Reading First schools to help districts evaluate their progress toward meeting the goal of “every child reading on grade level” by third grade. Schools must show regular progress toward this goal to continue receiving Reading First funds.

Pacing: The pace of a lesson should move briskly, but not so fast as to rush students beyond their ability to answer correctly. The purposes for a fast pace are to help students pay close attention to the material being presented, and provide students more practice time which increases the opportunity for greater student achievement, keeps students actively engaged, and reduces behavior management problems by keeping students on-task.

Partner/Peer Reading: Students reading aloud with a partner, taking turns to provide word identification help and feedback.

Pedagogy: How instruction is carried out or the method and practice of teaching.

Phases of Word Learning:
Pre-alphabetic-Sight word learning at the earliest period. Children do not form letter-sound connections to read words; if they are able to read words at all, they do so by remembering selected visual features.
Partial alphabetic-Children learn the names or sounds of alphabet letters and use these to remember how to read words. However, they form connections between only some of the letters and sounds in words, often only the first and final letter-
sounds.
Full alphabetic-Children can form complete connections between letters in written words and phonemes in pronunciations.
Consolidated alphabetic-Readers operate with multi-letter units that may be morphemes, syllables, or subsyllabic units such as onsets and rimes. Common spelling patterns become consolidated into letter chunks, and these chunks make it easier to read words.

Phoneme: The smallest unit of sound within our language system. A phoneme combines with other phonemes to make words.

Phoneme Isolation: Recognizing individual sounds in a word (e.g., /p/ is the first sound in pan).

Phoneme Manipulation: Adding, deleting, and substituting sounds in words (e.g., add /b/ to oat to make boat; delete /p/ in pat to make at; substitute /o/ for /a/ in pat to make pot).

Phonemic Awareness: The ability to notice, think about, or manipulate the individual phonemes (sounds) in words. It is the ability to understand that sounds in spoken language work together to make words. This term is used to refer to the highest level of phonological awareness: awareness of individual phonemes in words.

Phonic Analysis: Attention to various phonetic elements of words.

Phonics: The study of the relationships between letters and the sounds they represent; also used to describe reading instruction that teaches sound-symbol correspondences.

Phonogram: A succession of letters that represent the same phonological unit in different words, such as “igh” in flight, might, tight, sigh, and high.

Phonological Awareness: One’s sensitivity to, or explicit awareness of, the phonological structure of words in one’s language. This is an “umbrella” term that is used to refer to a student’s sensitivity to any aspect of phonological structure in language. It
encompasses awareness of individual words in sentences, syllables, and onset-rime segments, as well as awareness of individual phonemes.

Prefix: A morpheme that precedes a root and that contributes to or modifies the meaning of a word as “re” in reprint.

Prior Knowledge: Refers to schema, the knowledge and experience that readers bring to the text.

Progress Monitoring: Tests that keep the teacher informed about the child’s progress in learning to read during the school year. These assessment results provide a quick sample of critical reading skills that will inform the teacher if the child is making adequate progress toward grade level reading ability at the end of the year.

Pronunciation Guide: A key or guide consisting of graphic symbols that represent particular speech sounds.

Prosody: Reading with expression, proper intonation, and phrasing. This helps readers to sound as if they are speaking the part they are reading. It is also this element of fluency that sets it apart from automaticity.

Rate: The speed at which a person reads.

Readability Level: Refers to independent, instructional, and frustrational levels of text reading.

Reading Centers: Special places organized in the classroom for students to work in small groups or pairs, either cooperatively or individually. Students work in centers while the teacher is conducting small group reading instruction. Each center contains meaningful, purposeful activities that are an extension and reinforcement of what has already been taught by the teacher in reading groups or in a large group. Reading centers offer students the opportunity to stay academically engaged as they apply the skills they have been learning. They are an excellent way for teachers to determine
whether or not students know what they have been taught. It is important to develop a system and organize your classroom in such a way that you can provide feedback to students in a timely manner. Waiting until the end of the week to look at what students have worked on all week is not a productive use of instructional time, as students may have been practicing errors all week.

Examples of Reading Centers: Students practice phonics skills at the phonics center, sort word cards at the vocabulary center, and at the reading center, they read books, listen to taped books, record the reading of a book, and read in pairs. The reading center would contain a variety of books at various reading levels to meet the needs of all students. Other centers may consist of writing and spelling activities, pocket charts, white boards, magnetic letters to practice word building, sentence strips and word cards to create stories, sequencing activities with pictures, story boards, or sentence strips to retell a story that has been read. Some centers may be permanent; others will change according to the skills, books, and activities being currently addressed. It is recommended that teachers not bring in material from other content areas unless the activity from science or math, for example, specifically focuses on a skill that is being addressed in reading instruction. Reading centers require careful planning.

Reading Fluency Prorating Formula: When students are asked to read connected text for more than one minute or less than one minute, their performance must be prorated to give a fluency rate per minute. The prorating formula for this is the following: words read correctly x 60 ÷ by the number of seconds = Reading Fluency Score.

Reading Vocabulary: The words needed to understand what is read.

Receptive Language: Language that is heard.

Regular Words: Any word in which each letter represents its respective, most common sound (e.g., sat, fantastic).

Repeated Reading: Rereading of text until the reader is able to read at a predetermined rate to produce fluency.

Retelling: Recalling the content of what was read or heard.

Rhyming: Words that have the same ending sound.

Root: A bound morpheme, usually of Latin origin, that cannot stand alone but is used to form a family of words with related meanings.

Scaffolding: Refers to the support that is given to students in order for them to arrive at the correct answer. This support may occur as immediate, specific feedback that a teacher offers during student practice. For instance, the assistance the teacher offers may include giving encouragement or cues, breaking the problem down into smaller steps, using a graphic organizer, or providing an example. Scaffolding may be embedded in the features of the instructional design such as starting with simpler skills and building progressively to more difficult skills. Providing the student temporary instructional support assists them in achieving what they could not otherwise have done alone.

Schema: Refers to prior knowledge, the knowledge and experience that readers bring to the text.

Schwa: The vowel sound sometimes heard in an unstressed syllable and is most often sounded as /uh/ or as the short /u/ sound as in cup.

Scientifically Based Reading Research (SBRR): Refers to empirical research that applies rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain valid knowledge. This includes research that: employs systematic, empirical methods that draw on observation or experiment; has been accepted by a peer-reviewed journal or approved by a panel of independent experts through a comparably rigorous, objective and scientific review; involves rigorous data analyses that are adequate to test the stated hypotheses and justify the general conclusions drawn; relies on measurements or observational methods that provide valid data across evaluators and observers and across multiple measurements and observations; and can be generalized.

Scope and Sequence: A “roadmap” or “blueprint” for teachers that provides an overall picture of an instructional program and includes the range of teaching content and the order or sequence in which it is taught.

Screening: An informal inventory that provides the teacher a beginning indication of the student’s preparation for grade level reading instruction. It is a “first alert” that a child may need extra help to make adequate progress in reading during the year.

Segmenting: Separating the individual phonemes, or sounds, of a word into discrete units.

Self-Monitoring: Refers to metacognition. When students use self-monitoring strategies, they actively think about how they are learning or understanding the material, activities, or reading in which they are engaged.

Semantic Feature Analysis: Uses a grid to help explore how a set of things are related to one another. By analyzing the grid one can see connections, make predictions, and master important concepts.

Semantic Maps: Portray the schematic relations that compose a concept; a strategy for graphically representing concepts.

Sight Words: These are words that are recognized immediately. Sometimes sight words are thought to be irregular, or high frequency words (e.g., the Dolch and Fry lists). However, any word that is recognized automatically is a sight word. These words may be phonetically regular or irregular.

Sound to Symbol: Phonics instruction that matches phoneme to grapheme.

Speaking Vocabulary: The words used when speaking.

Speed: The rate at which a student reads.

Spelling Patterns: Refers to digraphs, vowel pairs, word families, and vowel variant spellings.

Stop Sounds: A stop sound can only be said for an instant, otherwise its sound will be distorted (i.e., / b/, /c/ /d/, /g/, /h/, /j/, /k/, /p/, /q/, /t/, /x/). Words beginning with stop sounds are more difficult for students to sound out than words beginning with a continuous sound.

Story Elements: Characters, problem, solutions, themes, settings, and plot.

Story Grammar: The general structure of stories that includes story elements.

Story Maps: A strategy used to unlock the plot and important elements of a story. These elements can be represented visually through various graphic organizers showing the beginning, middle, and end of a story. Answering the questions of who, where, when, what, and how or why, and listing the main events is also part of story mapping. These elements are also referred to as story grammar.

Strategic Learners: Active learners. While reading these learners make predictions, organize information, and interact with the text. They think about what they are reading in terms of what they already know. They monitor their comprehension by employing strategies that facilitate their understanding.

Structural Analysis: A procedure for teaching students to read words formed with prefixes, suffixes, or other meaningful word parts.

Student Friendly Explanation: An explanation of the word’s meaning rather than a definition.
1) Characterizes the word and how it is typically used.
2) Explains the meaning in everyday language.

Suffix: An affix attached to the end of a base, root, or stem that changes the meaning or grammatical function of the word, as “en” in oxen.

Summarizing: Reducing large selections of text to their bare essentials: the gist, the key ideas, the main points that are worth noting and remembering.

Supplemental Instruction is instruction that goes beyond that provided by the comprehensive core program because the core program does not provide enough instruction or practice in a key area to meet the needs of the students in a particular
classroom or school. For example, teachers in a school may observe that their comprehensive core program does not provide enough instruction in vocabulary, or in phonics, to adequately meet the needs of the majority of their students. They could then select a supplemental program in these areas to strengthen the initial instruction and practice provided to all students.

Syllable: A segment of a word that contains one vowel sound. The vowel may or may not be preceded and/or followed by a consonant.

Syllable Types: There are six syllable types:
1. Closed: cat, cobweb
2. Open: he, silo
3. Vowel-consonant-e (VCE): like, milestone
4. Consonant-l-e: candle, juggle (second syllable)
5. R-controlled: star, corner,
6. Vowel pairs: count, rainbow

Symbol to Sound: Matching grapheme to phoneme.

Synonym: Words that have similar meanings.

Systematic Instruction: A carefully planned sequence for instruction, similar to a builder’s blueprint for a house. A blueprint is carefully thought out and designed before building materials are gathered and construction begins. The plan for instruction that is systematic is carefully thought out, strategic, and designed before activities and lessons are planned. Instruction is across the five components (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension). For systematic instruction, lessons build on previously taught information, from simple to complex.

Systematic Phonics Instruction: Systematic phonics programs teach children an extensive, pre-specified set of letter-sound correspondences or phonograms.

Systematic Review: A planned review of previously learned materials.

Targeted Supplemental/Intervention Reading Programs (TSRP/TIRP): These programs and materials provide instruction in one or more areas of reading skill. They are intended for flexible use as part of differentiated instruction or in more intensive
interventions to meet student learning needs in specific areas (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, or comprehension). When they are used with almost all students in the class because the CCRP does not provide enough instruction and practice in a given area for the majority of students in the class, they are usually referred to as supplemental materials. When they are used to provide targeted, intensive interventions for smaller groups of struggling readers, they are often referred to as intervention materials. Whether referred to as supplemental or intervention materials, these programs provide targeted instruction designed to fill in gaps in student knowledge or skill. These materials can be used to provide either additional instruction or additional practice, or both.

Target Words: Are specifically addressed, analyzed, and/or studied in curriculum lessons, exercises, and independent activities.

Text Structure: The various patterns of ideas that are embedded in the organization of text (e.g., cause-effect, comparison-contrast, story grammar).

Think-Alouds: During shared read aloud, teachers reveal their thinking processes by verbalizing: connections, questions, inferences, and predictions.

Timed Reading: Student reads appropriate text with a predetermined number of words to be read within a specific amount of time.

Trade Book: A book intended for general reading that is not a textbook.

Train-the-Trainer Model: A capacity-building plan to develop master trainers who then deliver the program information to users.

Useful Words: Words that might be unknown to the student, but critical to passage understanding and words that students are likely to encounter in the future.

Useful Letter Sounds: Letters that appear frequently in words. Beginning readers can decode more words when they know several useful letters. Knowing the sounds of /m/, /a/, /t/, and /i/ is more advantageous than the sounds /x/, /q/ /y/, and /z/. Other useful letter sounds are /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/, /b/, /c/, /d/, /f/, /g/, /h/, /k/, /l/, /n/, /p/, and /r/.

Variant Correspondences: Various corresponding spelling patterns for a specific sound or a variety of spelling patterns for one sound (e.g., long a spelled a, a_e, ai_, _ay).

Vocabulary: Refers to all of the words of our language. One must know words to communicate effectively. Vocabulary is important to reading comprehension because readers cannot understand what they are reading without knowing what most of the words mean. Vocabulary development refers to stored information about the meanings and pronunciation of words necessary for communication. Four types of vocabulary include listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Vowel Digraph or Vowel Pair: Two vowels together that represent one phoneme, or sound (e.g., ea, ai, oa).

Word Family: Group of words that share a rime (a vowel plus the consonants that follow; e.g., -ame, -ick,-out).

Word Learning Strategies: Strategies students use to learn words such as: decoding, analyzing meaningful parts of words, using analogy, using context clues, using a dictionary (student friendly definitions), glossary, or other resources.

Word Parts : Letters, onsets, rimes, syllables that, when combined, result in words. The ability to recognize various word parts in multisyllabic words is beneficial in decoding unfamiliar words.

Word Study: The act of deliberately investigating words (e.g., vocabulary-building exercises, word-identification practice, and spelling).

Writing Vocabulary: Words that a student might use while writing.

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