Education jargon: What ‘no excuses’ and other terms really mean - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Education jargon: What ‘no excuses’ and other terms really mean - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Education jargon: What ‘no excuses’ and other terms really mean

By Valerie Strauss

This was written by Joanne Yatvin, a vet­eran public school educator, author and past president of the National Council of Teachers of English. She is now teaching part-time at Portland State University.

By Joanne Yatvin

Way back when I was a college student, one of my professors warned the class to avoid using jargon in our papers. By jargon he meant big words of indeterminate meaning. Ever since then I’ve tried to follow his advice in my own writing and to be aware of jargon in the writing of
(© LAUGHING STOCK/CORBIS)others. But I’ve also come to recognize that there are different kinds of jargon and at least one of them is justifiable. That jargon is