Kempbell Teacher Studio
| Document | Teacher Guide, Kempbell Teacher Studio |
| Version | 1.1 (prototype release) |
| Date issued | October 23, 2026 |
| Owner | Kemp Advisory Group, LLC, Tyler, Texas |
| Audience | Teachers, partner and substitute teachers, coaches, school leaders, families |
| Status | Prototype. Plans and suggestions are drafts for the teacher to review. |
| Contact | meshayla@kempadvisory.com |
Contents
Click any line to jump to it. In the printed copy, use the page numbers.
How to read this guide
Part 1 is the short path: read it and you can use the studio. Part 2 is everyday how-to. Part 3 explains the practices behind it. Part 4 gives words you can use. Part 5 is a reference of terms and links. The online Help page follows the same order, so you can switch between them.
Find the pages you need
You do not have to read everything. Find the line that sounds like you, then turn to those pages.
| If you want to… | Read |
|---|---|
| I have a standard to teach tomorrow and little time | Your first lesson, click by click (p. 9) |
| I have never used a program like this | Computer words, in plain language (p. 8) and Welcome to the studio (p. 5) |
| I want to know what each path (A to E) gives me | What do you want from the studio? (p. 5) |
| I need to find out where my students are | Don't know their level? (p. 15) and 1. Know each student before you plan (p. 18) |
| I scored an exit ticket and need tomorrow's groups | Exit ticket to next move (p. 13) and 4. Group on purpose (p. 19) |
| I am out, or need a plan for a substitute | Out for a day or a month (p. 14) and 5. Cover a class in 5 minutes (p. 20) |
| I want help with my T-TESS goal | Grow as a teacher (p. 14) and Your growth plan (optional) (p. 15) |
| I want to see my whole class at once | Your class at a glance (p. 13) and One view per student (p. 14) |
| I need words to say to students, parents or a coach | Who does what: words you can use (p. 23) and For coaches, leaders and families (p. 15) |
| I met a word or acronym I do not know | Acronyms and definitions (p. 26) and More terms you may hear (p. 28) |
| I want to know what is safe to type | What to enter (p. 14) |
Revision history
| Version | Date | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | October 23, 2026 | Added Part 1 Start here: choose-your-path guide, plain-language computer words, click-by-click first lesson with screenshots. Contents now has subtitles. Ready-made question sets for Kindergarten to Grade 5. In-tool word help. |
| 1.0 | October 23, 2026 | First issued edition: contents, visuals, expanded terms. |
Notices
© 2026 Kemp Advisory Group, LLC. All rights reserved. Kempbell Teacher Studio is a prototype. Plans, groups and suggestions are drafts for the teacher to review and change. This guide is not legal advice and does not state that any class, plan or student record is compliant with any law or policy.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Texas Education Agency. TEKS, STAAR, TELPAS and T-TESS are names used by that agency or its partners and are used here only to describe the standards and systems teachers already work with.
Privacy: use seat numbers, never student names or IDs. Nothing typed into the studio is sent to a server. Saved copies stay in the teacher's own browser.
Start here
Read this first. In about ten minutes you will know what the studio does for you and how to make your first lesson.
Welcome to the studio
What it does for you, in plain words
The studio follows the cycle you already teach: plan, teach, check, regroup.
What do you want from the studio?
Pick your path. You can change your mind any week.
People use the studio in four different depths. Find the one that sounds like you, then follow its short list. You do not need to learn everything. Most teachers start with Path A and add more later.
Help with one standard
| Best for | A teacher who wants a solid plan for tomorrow and nothing more. |
|---|---|
| Time | About 10 minutes per lesson. |
| You do |
|
| You get | Five teaching moves, a learning objective, success criteria, and ready-made pretest and exit-ticket questions. |
| Where | Steps 1 to 3 at the top of the tool. |
You skip: scores, groups, goals and saving.
Help my students grow
| Best for | A teacher who wants to know who needs what tomorrow. |
|---|---|
| Time | Path A, plus about 10 minutes after teaching. |
| You do |
|
| You get | Tomorrow's groups with a task for each, reteach ideas, student goals, rubrics and a class chart. |
| Where | Step 4 After teaching. More tools: Student goals, Rubric builder. |
Help me grow as a teacher
| Best for | A teacher working on a T-TESS goal, or who wants a good coaching conversation. |
|---|---|
| Time | A few extra minutes a week. |
| You do |
|
| You get | Look-fors tied to your lesson, a place to keep evidence for yourself, and questions a coach can ask. The studio never rates you. |
| Where | More tools: Growth plan, Coach view. |
This path is optional. You can use Path A or B and never open it.
Make it my teaching assistant: grow me and my students
| Best for | A teacher who wants one place for planning, data and families, all year. |
|---|---|
| Time | 15 to 25 minutes per lesson, less as the studio remembers your choices. |
| You do |
|
| You get | Everything in A, B and C, plus growth over time, a view that follows your district's sequence, a family packet, and a cover pack for a substitute. |
| Where | All five steps and More tools. |
I coach or lead a team
Use Coach view to see counts across classes, compare data over time, and plan a coaching conversation. Counts only, never names. Find it under More tools.
Not sure? Match your sentence.
| If you say… | Start with |
|---|---|
| "I have a standard to teach tomorrow." | Path A |
| "My students are all over the place." | Path B |
| "My appraiser wants a goal from me." | Path C |
| "I want one tool for the whole year." | Path D |
| "I support other teachers." | Path E |
Computer words, in plain language
Click, tab, drop-down and the rest
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Click or tap | Press the mouse button once on something. On a phone or tablet, touch it with your finger. |
| Button | A box with words that does something when you click it, such as Next. |
| Scroll | Move the page up or down to see more. Use the mouse wheel, two fingers on a touchpad, or drag on a screen. |
| Tab | One of a row of labels across the top of a section. Click a label to switch to that part, like tabs in a binder. |
| Drop-down | A box with a small arrow. Click it and a list opens. Click the line you want. |
| Checkbox | A small square. Click it to put a check mark in it, and click again to take it off. |
| Browser | The program you use to look at websites, such as Chrome, Safari or Edge. |
| Copy and paste | Copy makes a duplicate of the words you chose. Paste puts them where you click next, such as a Word document or an email. |
| Seat number | The number of a desk in your room. The studio uses seat numbers, never student names. |
| Draft | A first try for you to read and change. Everything the studio writes is a draft. |
Stuck on a word inside the tool?
Words with a dotted line under them have a short meaning. Click the word to read it. The Words button, at the bottom right of every screen, opens a list you can search.
Your first lesson, click by click
Seven steps with screenshots. Red numbers in the pictures match the text.
Open the studio and click Plan a lesson
The first screen says Welcome. Click the dark button that says Plan a lesson (red circle 1).
Type what you are teaching
Click in the search box (red circle 1) and type it the way you would say it, such as fifth grade fractions. A list of real Texas standards (TEKS) appears. Click the one that matches (red circle 2), then click Next at the bottom.
Tell the studio about your class
Check the grade (circle 1), the minutes you have (circle 2) and the number of students (circle 3). Leave anything else as it is. You can come back and add more later.
Read your plan
The plan appears on the right. The tabs (circle 1) split it into short parts so you only read one at a time: Teach, Check and group, Support students, Language and thinking. Click an item (circle 2) to open it, and click it again to close it.
Use the ready-made questions
Open Ready-made pretest questions (circle 1). Each question says which standard it checks. Click Answer and hint (circle 2) to see the answer. Scroll down to the buttons Copy student sheet and Copy answer key, then paste into your own document.
After you teach: type the exit ticket scores
Find the column Exit ticket (circle 1). For each seat, choose how many questions the student got right, 0 to 3. Tomorrow's groups appear on the right (circle 2), with a task for each group.
Choose what comes next
The last step offers three choices: follow your district's sequence, follow what your data shows, or pick any lesson you like. The studio never forces a path.
Using the studio
Everyday how-to, one task at a time. Open the part you need. You do not have to read it in order.
Five steps, more tools if you need them
- Pick a standard. Type it your way: "fifth grade fractions" or ELAR 3.6A.
- Your class. Grade, minutes, size, supports, interests.
- Plan the lesson. Five teaching moves first. Tabs hold the rest.
- After teaching. Seat numbers and scores. Tomorrow's groups.
- What's next. Your district sequence, your data, or your choice. Your plan format if your campus needs one.
More tools: rubric builder, check a plan, homework and family packet, classroom setup, progress and test data, save and feedback, family page, coach view, and an optional growth plan.
Every plan includes
Learning habits built in
One example each, matched to your grade band and subject. Pick one or two.
Cover-an-absence plans add guest-teacher notes: materials, routines, signals, who to call.
Exit ticket to next move
Your class at a glance
Example class of eight seats, not real students. If a third or more of scored seats did not meet, plan a reteach day on the prerequisite.
Pairs and groups
Pairs sit one level apart. A Masters seat is never paired with a Did Not Meet seat.
One view per student
IEP, 504 and behavior boxes remind you to apply the plan on file. The plan itself stays with your campus.
Language support, built in
| ELPS level | Sentence frame |
|---|---|
| Beginning | Point or draw, then "This is a ____." |
| Intermediate | "I can ____ because ____." |
| Advanced | "First I ____. Then I ____, which shows ____." |
| Advanced high | Explain in a paragraph with subject words. |
Biliteracy classes: switch on the biliteracy option for cognates and home-language talk before English.
Reading in K to 3
Pick an ELAR standard and the plan names its lesson type, chosen from the standard's wording. Edit if it looks wrong.
Out for a day or a month
- Switch to Cover an absence.
- Find the standard the class is on. Use the district plan first, or ask the teacher next door. Set the days.
- Hand over a plan with guest-teacher notes.
Grow as a teacher
| T-TESS dimension | How the Studio helps |
|---|---|
| 1.1 Standards and Alignment | Objective written from the TEKS |
| 1.2 Data and Assessment | Pretest and exit ticket data |
| 2.3 Communication | Student-language objective, key words, frames |
| 2.4 Differentiation | A move for each level, a frame for each ELPS level |
| 2.5 Monitor and Adjust | Checkpoints and the what-worked log |
A reflection aid, not a rating. Look-for prompts are plain-language versions of the Proficient descriptors in the official T-TESS rubric (teachfortexas.org). Use the rubric for levels.
The upload checker reads a plan you already use and lists the parts to add.
What to enter
Nothing you enter is sent anywhere. Saving is a copy in your own browser.
Don't know their level?
Give a short pretest, enter 0 to 3 per seat. If your students use Kempbell Academy, paste their levels by seat number in Save and feedback. Automatic delivery by class code is still being built.
Words, talk and connections
- Academic language: key words from the standard, word parts, sentence stems.
- Talk, read, talk, write: a routine from Nancy Motley's book of the same name.
- Teams and partners: plain-named routines such as think, pair, share and same-number teams.
- Connections: to self, to other texts, to the world, plus your students' interests.
- Learning habits: writing, questioning, teamwork, organizing, reading.
Your growth plan (optional)
Off until you turn it on. Enter a current or previous T-TESS rating and the tool picks your lowest dimensions, lists what to work on, and adds a growth line to the matching teaching move.
- Pick a T-TESS dimension and write one goal.
- Add a dated line each time you act: exit ticket, coach visit, learning.
- Copy the summary for your appraiser: actions followed, and student counts.
Follows the shape of a Texas goal-setting and professional development plan. Does not replace your district's form.
For coaches, leaders and families
Objectives, questions and a 5-minute start
- Learning objective check. Observable verb, one skill, outcome not activity, a measure of success. Offers a measurable and an "I can" version.
- Language objective. One sentence: function, content, words and sentence starters. Same objective for every level, different supports.
- Essential question. Open, short, answerable by the end. Type yours and get a check.
- Pre-class activity. Five minutes, built from the key words and the standard before it. Cards for K to 2, a reading warm-up for K to 3, and a place to note what you saw.
Take-home packet
For homework, a tutorial, a try-again or extra practice. Pick the level it is for. Families get:
- A plain-language letter on where their child is on the skill and why the packet is coming home.
- Steps for helping without giving the answer, and a checklist to check the work.
- A tear-off slip: parent signature, date, "I received this" and "I checked the work."
Make one version per group. Levels are classroom levels, not STAAR scores. No student names in the tool.
Best practice
The habits behind a strong lesson, and where each one lives in the tool.
Start with the end (backward design)
Before you plan activities, decide what students must know by the end and how you will see it. The plan page opens with a Start with the end card:
- Know: the key words students should own.
- Understand: the big idea, in one sentence you finish. Start from the essential question.
- Be able to do: the objective, from the TEKS wording.
- Success looks like: three "I can" criteria (say it, show it, use it). Post them for students.
- Evidence: exit ticket questions 1, 2 and 3 check criteria 1, 2 and 3.
- Then plan: the five moves lead students to those answers.
Open "Edit my end goals" to change anything. Each standard remembers your edits.
How to tell if a criterion is good
| Weak | Strong |
|---|---|
| I understand fractions. | I can show 3/4 on a number line and explain how I know. |
| I know the theme. | I can state the theme of a story and point to two parts that show it. |
| I learned about weather. | I can use a chart to tell what the weather will be and why. |
Strong criteria name something you can see or hear, and an exit ticket question can check them. Backward design comes from Wiggins and McTighe, Understanding by Design.
1. Know each student before you plan
A lesson aimed at the whole class misses most of it. A quick pretest tells you where to start, who already has it, and who needs the earlier skill.
- Write one question on the main idea of the standard and add "How do you know?" This is the one-question technique.
- Students answer alone before the lesson or as the hook.
- Sort the answers into three piles: ready, close, not yet.
- Enter each seat's level under Pretest in After teaching. The tool uses it for groups and to show growth.
2. How long does it take?
| Step | About |
|---|---|
| Pick standard, set class and minutes | 2 to 3 min |
| Add your book or text (optional) | 1 to 2 min |
| Write the one-question pretest | 3 to 5 min |
| Students answer it | 5 to 10 min of class |
| Sort and enter levels by seat | 8 to 10 min |
| Read, edit and make the plan yours | 10 to 15 min |
| Total for a first lesson | about 30 min |
| Repeat lesson, same class | about 15 min |
These are our own planning estimates for the prototype, not research results. Your times will vary. A national 2022 EdWeek survey found teachers work about 54 hours a week but did not report planning time on its own.
3. Start from what you have
Say what you are using and the plan is built around it. In Your class, add the book or resource, pages, key words and the part you want to cover.
The tool cannot read your book. It builds around the title, pages, topic and the key words you type, which stay on the page and are not sent anywhere.
4. Group on purpose
Pick what students are doing. The tool names the group type, size, time and roles, builds the groups by seat number, and copies a group chart.
| Students are | Group |
|---|---|
| Reteaching one skill | Skill group, 3 to 5, 10 to 15 min |
| Practicing | Mixed pairs (rank, split in half, pair across) |
| Discussing or solving | Mixed group of 3 or 4 with roles |
| Teaching each other | Jigsaw: home, then expert groups |
| Checking understanding | Think, pair, share (neighbors) |
| Long project | Learning team of 4 |
Students per group. You form the groups, by seat number.
Grouping rules that hold up
- You form the groups. Student choice can leave students out.
- Skill groups are temporary. Regroup when students get it.
- Never stay below grade level. End by returning to the grade-level task.
- Name groups by color, not level.
- Change the approach, not only the group, for a student stuck at Approaches or lower twice. The tool flags these seats.
- Give every member a job only they can do, and rotate roles.
Sources: NWEA (2025); ASCD, "How We Group Students Matters"; University of Waterloo Centre for Teaching Excellence. One small student survey (Hassan et al., 2023) found most students liked pair and group work. It measured opinions, not scores.
5. Cover a class in 5 minutes
If a teacher is out, a partner teacher, coach or principal can make the plan. No teaching background is needed.
- Switch to Cover an absence.
- Pick the standard the class is on, or paste a code from the district plan.
- Set minutes and days. Add the room details if you have them: where materials are, who to call, the attention signal.
- Open Plan the lesson. In the Cover pack at the top, copy the guest-teacher plan and the student work page.
The guest-teacher plan has the goal to say aloud, schedule, step-by-step moves, supports by seat number, early finishers, a backup plan, a day-by-day outline and a notes section for the teacher who returns. The student page has a do-now, three tasks and an exit ticket.
Where each part of a strong lesson lives in the tool
| Lesson part | In the tool |
|---|---|
| Standards and objectives | Pick a standard; objective check; language objective |
| Plan backward (end goal first) | Start with the end card: know, understand, do, success criteria, evidence |
| Hook or warm-up | Move 1; pre-class activity ideas; your book's cover or first page |
| Direct instruction and modeling | Move 2; think-aloud with a passage from your text |
| Guided and independent practice | Moves 3 and 4; support and stretch paths |
| Closure and exit ticket | Move 5; three-level exit ticket; piles become groups |
| Materials | Classroom setup (materials list); take-home packet |
| Differentiation and accommodations | Support students tab; ELPS frames; IEP, 504 and behavior reminders by seat |
| Formative checks | Checkpoints in the schedule; Quick pretest; progress and data |
| Backup plan | Support students tab: short on time, too hard, too easy, tech fails |
| Other subjects, technology and career skills | Language and thinking tab: Connect it (optional, pick one idea) |
| Reflection | Check and group tab; the What worked log |
| Homework and family contact | Take-home packet with parent sign-off |
Track growth, set goals, get feedback
Growth over time
- After you score an exit ticket, choose Save this lesson's results.
- Keep the same seat numbers or codes all year. That is how growth can be followed.
- After two saved lessons, Your progress and growth shows who moved up and who is on a roll. When a seat dips or stays low, it gives encouraging words and ideas to try.
Example seat, not a real student. Growth is followed by keeping the same seat number all year.
Saved in your browser by seat number. Clearing browser data erases it. No names.
Feedback on a plan you already wrote
In More tools, open Review and upload, paste your plan and check it. You see what is strong first, then a few ways to strengthen it with an Open in my plan button. No score, private to you. It is a keyword check, so you know your class best.
Student goals
- Open More tools, Student goals.
- Tap one seat for a student, two for a pair, three or more for a group. Or use Quick start for a one-level-up goal for every scored seat.
- Watch each goal move from Working on it to Close to Reached. Pair and group goals count when every member reaches the goal.
- When a goal is reached, pick a recognition from your menu and copy a note home and a certificate.
Rubrics
- Open More tools, Rubric builder, or tap Build a rubric from these on the lesson plan.
- The criteria start from your success criteria for the standard, so the rubric, exit ticket and plan agree. Edit them, one per line. Start each with a verb and say what you can see or hear.
- Choose a format: four levels for detailed feedback, single-point for quick personal feedback, or a student check in "I can" words. Choose "A project" to add teamwork, process and sharing criteria.
- Ask students what excellent work looks like and type it in the optional box. You write the lower levels.
- Score a seat to see its level and score. One button copies those levels into After teaching.
Illustrative scores. Your district policy decides the actual values.
Based on ideas from ASCD (better feedback through rubrics), Edutopia (student-designed rubrics) and GradingPal (K-12 rubric guide), paraphrased. Share the rubric before the work starts, show anonymous samples, and score two samples with a colleague to check you agree.
New here? The Start here screen gives four paths: plan a lesson, cover an absence, try an example class, or give pilot feedback. On the main path, use Next and Back at the bottom. Testing the tool? Open More tools, then Pilot feedback and results. It takes about 5 minutes. Copy your response code and email it to the pilot lead. The code has no student information.
Who does what
The same tool serves six people. Each box shows what that person does and a short script. Change the words to sound like you.
A guide, not a rule. Every role can use every part.
| Column | What it means in the studio |
|---|---|
| Plan | Making the lesson plan: pick a standard and get objectives, teaching moves and success criteria. |
| Exit | The exit ticket: a few questions at the end of class that show who got it. |
| Groups | Tomorrow's groups: students sorted by how they did, each with a task. |
| Data | Scores and results you enter by seat number, and the class chart built from them. |
| Cover | Cover an absence: a plan with notes for a substitute or guest teacher. |
| Growth | Your own growth plan: a T-TESS goal you choose, and notes on how you are doing. |
Classroom teacher
Picks the standard, runs a quick pretest, teaches, scores the exit ticket, checks the groups.
- To students, opening: "Today we are going to infer the theme of a story. By the end, you will be able to say it in your own words and show how you know."
- To students, pretest: "This is not a grade. It shows me where to start. Answer alone, and tell me how you know."
- To a student, after the exit ticket: "You moved from Approaches to Meets. What helped you?"
- To yourself, after: "Which group did not get it? What will I change tomorrow, not just who sits where?"
Partner teacher
Plans together, or covers for a colleague. Uses Cover an absence.
- Planning together: "Let’s both pick the same standard. I will teach it Tuesday, you Wednesday. After my exit ticket I will tell you which move worked."
- Covering a class: "I only need the standard, the minutes and how many days. Where do you keep the materials? Who should I call?"
- Handing back: "Here is what got done, the exit tickets by seat number, and the seats that needed help."
Instructional coach
Supports growth. Never rates the teacher with this tool.
- Opening: "What do you want to get better at this month? Let’s look at what you picked in the growth plan."
- Looking at data: "Your exit tickets show most students at Approaches on question 2. What did you notice about how they explained it?"
- Next step: "Try one move for two weeks: have students explain to a partner before they write. We will check the exit tickets together."
Principal or assistant principal
Covers a class in a pinch, or reviews counts with a team. Counts only, no student names.
- Covering a class: "I am picking the standard the class is on, 50 minutes, one day. I will copy the cover pack and the student work page."
- Team data meeting: "Across third grade, a third of seats did not meet the standard. What reteach plan can we share?"
- Teacher check-in: "The growth plan is optional. Do you want it on? You choose the focus."
Guest teacher
Follows the cover pack. Needs no tool.
- Opening the class: "Good morning. I am here for Ms. B today. Our goal is on the board. Look at the question and talk to a partner for one minute."
- When stuck: "If this is too hard we go back to the earlier skill with pictures. If it is too easy, use the early-finisher task."
- Closing: "Fill in the exit ticket. I will leave the papers for your teacher."
Family
Receives the take-home packet and signs it.
- Packet letter: "Your child is approaching this skill. This packet gives a little extra support. It should take about 15 minutes. Please check the work, sign the slip, and send it back tomorrow."
- Phone call: "I am sending home practice on fractions. The key words are numerator and denominator. Ask your child to explain one answer to you."
- If they have questions: "Write a note on the slip or call the front office. Thank you for working with us."
Reference
Terms, acronyms and links when you want to learn more.
Acronyms and definitions
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| TEKS | Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills: the state standards for what students should know and do in each grade. |
| TEA | Texas Education Agency. |
| STAAR | State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. The tool’s levels are classroom levels, not STAAR scores. |
| T-TESS | Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System. Its rubric describes five levels: Improvement Needed, Developing, Proficient, Accomplished, Distinguished. |
| ELPS | English Language Proficiency Standards: describe how English learners grow, from Beginning to Advanced High. |
| ELAR | English Language Arts and Reading. |
| ELL / EL / EB | English language learner, English learner, emergent bilingual. |
| IEP | Individualized Education Program for a student in special education. |
| 504 | A plan under Section 504 that gives a student accommodations. |
| BIP | Behavior intervention plan. |
| TRA | Texas Reading Academies, the reading training for K to 3 teachers. One lesson framework is named for it. |
| PCA | Pre-class activity, also called a bell ringer: what students do at the start of class to get ready. |
| Exit ticket | Two to three questions at the end of a lesson that show who got it. |
| Pretest | A quick check before teaching to see what students already know. |
| Formative / summative | Formative checks guide teaching while learning. Summative tests measure it at the end. |
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Level (Did Not Meet, Approaches, Meets, Masters) | The tool’s four classroom levels from an exit ticket (0 to 3 correct). |
| Seat number | How the tool refers to students. No names are entered. |
| Skill group | A short-term group of students who need the same skill. |
| Alternate ranking | Rank students, split the list in half and pair across the halves so partners are a level or two apart. |
| Jigsaw | Each student becomes an expert on one piece, then teaches their home group. |
| Think, pair, share | Think alone, talk with a partner, share with the class. |
| Gradual release (I do, we do, you do) | Teacher models, then the class practices together, then students try alone. |
| Backward design | Plan the assessment first, then the activities that lead to it. |
| Bloom / Costa | Frameworks for the level of thinking in a question, from recall to creating or judging. |
| 5E / inquiry | Engage, explore, explain, elaborate, evaluate. A science lesson cycle. |
| Essential question | An open question the whole lesson works to answer. |
| Learning vs. language objective | What students will learn, and what they will say or write to show it. |
| Differentiation | Changing support, task or time so more students can succeed. |
| Scaffold | A temporary support, such as a sentence frame or a word bank. |
| PBL | Project-based learning: students learn through a longer project with a rubric. |
| Rubric | A guide that describes levels of quality for a task. |
| Benchmark / MAP / iReady | Common tests. The tool can import levels by seat from a spreadsheet. |
| PLC | Professional learning community: teachers who plan and review data together. |
| KTS / KAG | Kempbell Teacher Studio / Kemp Advisory Group. |
More terms you may hear
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| SPED | Special education. |
| ARD | Admission, Review, and Dismissal committee. The Texas team that writes and reviews a student's IEP. |
| LPAC | Language Proficiency Assessment Committee. Decides a student's English learner status, program and testing supports. |
| TELPAS | Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System. The yearly check of English growth for English learners. |
| MTSS / RTI | Multi-tiered system of supports and response to intervention. Tier 1 is whole-class teaching, Tier 2 is small-group help, Tier 3 is intensive help. |
| Accommodation / modification | An accommodation changes how a student learns or shows learning. A modification changes what is expected. Follow the student's plan. |
| GT | Gifted and talented. |
| SEL | Social-emotional learning: skills such as self-management, teamwork and handling feelings. |
| CFA | Common formative assessment. A short check that a team of teachers gives and reads together. |
| Student expectation (SE) | A lettered item under a TEKS statement, such as 3.6A. It is what students are expected to know or do. |
| Readiness / supporting standards | TEA's labels for which standards get the most weight on STAAR (readiness) and which support them. |
| Process standards | Skills used across content, such as problem solving in Math or investigating in Science. |
| Scope and sequence / IFD | Your district's pacing guide and the order of standards. Some districts call the planning documents Instructional Focus Documents. Follow yours first. |
| Vertical alignment | How a standard builds from one grade to the next. |
| Spiral review | Coming back to earlier skills on purpose so they stay fresh. |
| Reteach / intervention / enrichment | Reteach: teach it again a new way. Intervention: extra targeted help. Enrichment: deeper work for students who are ready. |
| Anchor chart | A chart built with the class and posted as a reference. |
| Exemplar | A sample of strong student work that shows what Meets or Masters looks like. |
| GSPD | Goal-Setting and Professional Development plan, the T-TESS growth plan teachers write with an appraiser. |
| Walkthrough | A short, informal classroom visit by an administrator or coach. |
| EOC | End-of-course exam given in some high school courses. |
| Texas Reading Academies | Required training in the science of teaching reading for K to 3 teachers and principals. |
Resource guides: learn more
Links open in a new tab. We checked each one, but websites change. Listing a source does not mean its authors reviewed or endorse this tool.
Texas standards and teacher support
- TEA: Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)
- TEA: Curriculum standards
- ELPS: 19 Texas Administrative Code § 74.4
- T-TESS rubric (Teach for Texas)
Planning frameworks
Grouping and peer learning
- How to get the most out of student grouping, NWEA
- How We Group Students Matters, ASCD
- Group work: small-group types, University of Waterloo
- Pre-class activities and peer instruction, Washington State University
Questions, objectives and engagement
For acronyms we could not link, search the name with "Texas Education Agency." Ask your campus or district for its own curriculum guide, which comes first.
- Does the objective match the TEKS wording?
- Do I model before students practice?
- Where will I check understanding?
- Did I look at IEP, 504 and behavior plans?
- Enter exit-ticket scores.
- Review tomorrow's groups. They are suggestions.
- Log what worked, partly worked or did not.
- Use the next-week notes in your next plan.
Credits: Talk, read, talk, write, Nancy Motley (Canter Press, 2016). Inquiry cycle, built on the BSCS 5E learning-cycle tradition. Bloom, Costa and Gagné frameworks, backwards design (Wiggins and McTighe), gradual release (Pearson and Gallagher), think-pair-share (Frank Lyman). TEKS, STAAR, T-TESS and ELPS belong to TEA and the State of Texas. Grouping: NWEA (2025); ASCD, How We Group Students Matters; University of Waterloo Centre for Teaching Excellence; Hassan et al. (2023). Pre-assessment: California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, Formative Assessment 101. Lesson components: Discovery Education and Thames College lesson-planning guides. No author or publisher endorses this tool.