• We have so many acronyms, that its no wonder parents (and teachers) get confused. I wanted to make this a little easier for you.

    So, simply put:

    EC - stands for Exceptional Children. In NC, exceptional children fall under one of the following categories:

    • SLD (Specific Learning Disability)
    • OHI (Other Health Impaired)
    • SI (Speech Impaired)
    • AU (Autism Spectrum Disorder)
    • DB (Deaf/Blindness)
    • DF (Deafness)
    • DD (Developmentally Delayed)
    • ED (Emotional Disability)
    • HI (Hearing Impairment)
    • ID (Intellectual Disability)
    • OI (Orthopedic Impairment)
    • TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury)
    • VI (Visual Impairment - including blindness)
    • MU (Multiple Disabilities)

    IEP - an IEP is an individualized education plan for students who qualify for special education services. 

    504 plan -- a plan developed to ensure that a child who has a mental or physical disability receives the necessary accommodation(s) in the classroom that will ensure their access to the learning environment.

    MTSS - Multi Tiered Support System

    The History of RTI and MTSS

    Tier 1 is "core" instruction that is provided for all children in the regular classroom.

    Tier 2 is "supplemental" support for those who need more than the core instruction.

    Tier 3 is "intensive" support for those who are not showing progress with supplemental support. When a student is in Tier 3, the teacher and team (that includes the curriculum specialist, teachers, principal, counselor, and EC teachers) meet to create interventions and determine how the interventions will be monitored. 

    IPS - Intense Problem Solving - IPS is the name of the team that is described above.

    SEL - stands for Social Emotional Learning.