Skip to main content
Version: 6

Teaching and Learning Domain - Entities, References, and Descriptors

Teaching and Learning Model Entities​

NameDescription
CourseThis educational entity represents the organization of subject matter and related learning experiences provided for the instruction of students on a regular or systematic basis.
CourseOfferingThis entity represents an entry in the course catalog of available courses offered by the school during a session.
LocationThis entity represents the physical space where students gather for a particular class/section. The Location may be an indoor or outdoor area designated for the purpose of meeting the educational needs of students.
SectionThis entity represents a setting in which organized instruction of course content is provided, in-person or otherwise, to one or more students for a given period of time. A course offering may be offered to more than one section.
StaffSectionAssociationThis association indicates the class sections to which a staff member is assigned.
StudentSectionAssociationThis association indicates the course sections to which a student is assigned.

Extended References​

NameDescription
ClassPeriodThis entity represents the designation of a regularly scheduled series of class meetings at designated times and days of the week.
EducationOrganizationThis entity represents any public or private institution, organization, or agency that provides instructional or support services to students or staff at any level.
LearningStandardThis entity is a sub-element of a learning objective consisting of a precise statement of the expectation of a student's proficiency.
ProgramThis entity represents any program designed to work in conjunction with, or as a supplement to, the main academic program. Programs may provide instruction, training, services, or benefits through federal, state, or local agencies. Programs may also include organized extracurricular activities for students.
SchoolThis entity represents an educational organization that includes staff and students who participate in classes and educational activity groups.
SessionA term in the school year, generally a unit of time into which courses are scheduled, instruction occurs and by which credits are awarded. Sessions may be interrupted by vacations or other events.
StaffThis entity represents an individual who performs specified activities for any public or private education institution or agency that provides instructional and/or support services to students or staff at the early childhood level through high school completion. For example, this includes:
1. An "employee" who performs services under the direction of the employing institution or agency is compensated for such services by the employer and is eligible for employee benefits and wage or salary tax withholdings
2. A "contractor" or "consultant" who performs services for an agreed upon fee or an employee of a management service contracted to work on site
3. A "volunteer" who performs services on a voluntary and uncompensated basis
4. An in-kind service provider
5. An independent contractor or businessperson working at a school site.
StaffProgramAssociationThis association indicates the Staff associated with a program.
StaffSchoolAssociationThis association indicates the School(s) to which a staff member provides instructional services.
StudentThis entity represents an individual for whom instruction, services, and/or care are provided in an early childhood, elementary, or secondary educational program under the jurisdiction of a school, education agency or other institution or program. A student is a person who has been enrolled in a school or other educational institution.
StudentProgramAssociationThis association represents the Program(s) that a student participates in or is served by.
StudentSchoolAssociationThis association represents the School in which a student is enrolled. The semantics of enrollment may differ slightly by state. Non-enrollment relationships between a student and an education organization may be described using the StudentEducationOrganizationAssociation.

Teaching and Learning Domain Descriptors​

EntityNameDescriptionUsage ClassificationEDFacts MappingCommonly UsedCommonly State-Defined
StudentAcademicRecordAcademicHonorCategoryA designation of the type of academic distinctions earned by or awarded to the individual.Orthodox
Course
CourseTranscript
LearningStandard
Staff
StaffSchoolAssociation
AcademicSubjectThe intended major subject/s area of the course, or the subject area for the course transcript credits awarded in the course transcript. Subject area for the learning standard, or the academic subject(s) in which the staff is deemed to be "highly qualified". The academic subjects the individual is eligible to teach.LocalYesYes
SchoolAccreditationStatusThe accreditation status for an education preparation provider.Standard
StaffAchievementCategoryThe category of achievement attributed to the individual.Local
CourseTranscriptAdditionalCreditTypeThe type of credits or units of value awarded for the completion of a course.Orthodox
EducationOrganizationAddressCharacteristicThe address characteristic mainly to reflect if Primary and type of communication to be received, e.g.: Primary, Validated, Gets Copy of Report, Discipline Correspondence.
EducationOrganizationAddressTypeThe type of address listed for an individual or organization. (For example: Physical Address, Mailing Address, Home Address, etc.)Orthodox
SchoolAdministrativeFundingControlThe type of education institution as classified by its funding source, for example public or private.Local
StudentSectionAssociationAttemptStatusAn indication of the student's completion status for the section.Orthodox
CourseCareerPathwayIndicates the career cluster or pathway the course is associated with as part of a CTE curriculum.Flexible
SchoolCharterApprovalAgencyTypeThe type of agency that approved the establishment or continuation of a charter school.StandardYesYes
SchoolCharterStatusA school or agency providing free public elementary or secondary education to eligible students under a specific charter granted by the state legislature or other appropriate authority and designated by such authority to be a charter school.StandardYesYesYes
StaffSectionAssociationClassroomPositionThe type of position the staff member holds in the specific class/section.Orthodox
CourseCompetencyLevelThe competency levels defined to rate the student for the course.Flexible
EducationOrganization
Staff
Student
CountryThe name of the country. It is strongly recommended that entries use only ISO 3166 2-letter country codes.StandardYes
CourseTranscriptCourseAttemptResultThe result from the student's attempt to take the course.Standard
CourseCourseDefinedBySpecifies whether the course was defined by the SEA, LEA, School, or national organization.Orthodox
CourseCourseGPAApplicabilityAn indicator of whether or not the course being described is included in the computation of the student's grade point average, and if so, if it is weighted differently from regular courses.Orthodox
Course
CourseTranscript
CourseIdentificationSystemA system that is used to identify the organization of subject matter and related learning experiences provided for the instruction of students.Orthodox
Course
CourseOffering
Section
CourseLevelCharacteristicThe type of specific program or designation with which the course is associated (e.g., AP, IB, Dual Credit, CTE), or the type of specific program or designation with which the section is associated.Orthodox
CourseTranscriptCourseRepeatCodeIndicates that an academic course has been repeated by a student and how that repeat is to be computed in the student's academic grade average.Orthodox
CourseTranscriptCreditCategoryA categorization for the course transcript credits awarded in the course transcript.Flexible
Course
CourseTranscript
Section
StudentAcademicRecord
CreditTypeThe type of credits or units of value awarded for the completion of a course.Flexible
CourseOfferingCurriculumUsedThe type of curriculum used in an early learning classroom or group.Orthodox
StudentAcademicRecordDiplomaLevelThe level of diploma/credential that is awarded to a student in recognition of completion of the curricular requirements.Local
StudentAcademicRecordDiplomaTypeThe type of diploma/credential that is awarded to a student in recognition of his/her completion of the curricular requirements.Local
StudentSectionAssociationDualCreditInstitutionDescriptor for the postsecondary institution offering college credit. This descriptor may be used to select a postsecondary institution that is not defined as an education organization, and/or select a general type of postsecondary institution.
StudentSectionAssociationDualCreditTypeFor a student taking a dual credit course in a college or high school setting, indicates the type of dual credit program.
SectionEducationalEnvironmentThe setting in which a student receives education and related services.Orthodox
EducationOrganizationEducationOrganizationCategoryThe classification of the education agency within the geographic boundaries of a state according to the level of administrative and operational control granted by the state.StandardYesYes
StudentSchoolAssociationEducationPlanThe type of education plan(s) the student is following, if appropriate.LocalYes
StudentSchoolAssociationEnrollmentTypeThe type of enrollment reflected by the StudentSchoolAssociation.
StudentSchoolAssociationEntryGradeLevelReasonThe primary reason as to why a staff member determined that a student should be promoted or not (or be demoted) at the end of a given school term.Local
StudentSchoolAssociationEntryTypeThe process by which a student enters a school during a given academic session.LocalYes
StudentSchoolAssociationExitWithdrawTypeThe circumstances under which the student exited from membership in an educational institution.LocalYes
SchoolFederalLocaleCodeThe federal locale code associated with an education organization.
StaffSchoolAssociation
StudentSchoolAssociation
Course
CourseOffering
CourseTranscript
LearningStandard
Section
GradeLevelThe grade levels the individual is eligible to teach.
The grade level or primary instructional level at which a student enters and receives services in a school or an educational institution during a given academic session.
The grade levels in which the course or section is offered.
Student's grade level at time of course.
The grade levels for the specific learning standard.
Orthodox
StudentAcademicRecordGradePointAverageTypeThe system used for calculating the grade point average for an individual.Standard
Staff
Student
IdentificationDocumentUseThe primary function of the document used for establishing identity.Orthodox
EducationOrganizationIndicatorThe value of the indicator or metric. The semantics of an empty value is "not submitted."Local
EducationOrganizationIndicatorGroupThe name for a group of indicators.Local
EducationOrganizationIndicatorLevelThe value of the indicator or metric, as a value from a controlled vocabulary. The semantics of an empty value is "not submitted."Local
EducationOrganizationInstitutionTelephoneNumberTypeThe type of communication number listed for an individual or organization.OrthodoxYesYesYes
SchoolInternetAccessThe type of Internet access available.Flexible
SectionLanguageThe primary language of instruction. If omitted, English is assumed.OrthodoxYesYesYes
LearningStandardLearningStandardCategoryAn additional classification of the type of a specific learning standard.Orthodox
LearningStandardLearningStandardScopeSignals the scope of usage the standard. Does not necessarily relate the standard to the governing body.Orthodox
StaffLevelOfEducationThe extent of formal instruction an individual has received (e.g., the highest grade in school completed or its equivalent or the highest degree received).Orthodox
EducationOrganizationLocaleA general geographic indicator that categorizes U.S. territory (e.g., City, Suburban).OrthodoxYes
SchoolMagnetSpecialProgramEmphasisSchoolA school that has been designed: 1) to attract students of different racial/ethnic backgrounds for the purpose of reducing, preventing, or eliminating racial isolation; and/or 2) to provide an academic or social focus on a particular theme (e.g., science/math, performing arts, gifted/talented, or foreign language).StandardYesYes
SectionMediumOfInstructionThe media through which teachers provide instruction to students and students and teachers communicate about instructional matters.Orthodox
CourseTranscriptMethodCreditEarnedThe method the credits were earned.Orthodox
EducationOrganizationOperationalStatusThe current operational status of the education organization (e.g., active, inactive).StandardYesYesYes
Staff
Student
OtherNameTypeThe types of alternate names for an individual.Orthodox
Staff
Student
PersonalInformationVerificationThe category of the document relative to its purpose.Orthodox
SectionPopulationServedThe type of students the section is offered and tailored to.Orthodox
StaffSchoolAssociationProgramAssignmentThe name of the program for which the individual is assigned.Orthodox
ProgramProgramCharacteristicReflects important characteristics of the program, such as categories or particular indications.LocalYesYes
ProgramEvaluationProgramEvaluationPeriodThe name of the period for the program evaluation.
ProgramEvaluationProgramEvaluationTypeThe type of program evaluation conducted.
ProgramProgramSponsorUltimate and intermediate providers of funds for a particular educational or service program or activity, or for an individual's participation in the program or activity (e.g., Federal, State, ESC, District, School, Private Organization).StandardYes
ProgramProgramTypeThe type of program.FlexibleYesYesYes
LearningStandardPublicationStatusThe publication status of the document (i.e., Adopted, Draft, Published, Deprecated, Unknown).Orthodox
EvaluationRubricDimension
ProgramEvaluationElement
ProgramEvaluationObjective
StudentProgramEvaluation
StudentEvaluationObjective
RatingLevelThe rating level achieved for the evaluation rubric dimension.
The title for a level of rating or evaluation band (e.g., Excellent, Acceptable, Needs Improvement, Unacceptable).
The rating level achieved based upon the rating or score for the evaluation element or objective.
Staff
StudentAcademicRecord
RecognitionTypeThe nature of recognition given to the individual for accomplishments in a co-curricular, or extra-curricular activity.Flexible
StudentSectionAssociationRepeatIdentifierAn indication as to whether a student has previously taken a given course.Orthodox
StudentSchoolAssociationResidencyStatusAn indication of the location of a persons legal residence relative to (within or outside of) the boundaries of the public school attended and its administrative unit.LocalYes
SchoolSchoolCategoryThe one or more categories of school.LocalYes
StudentSchoolAssociationSchoolChoiceBasisThe legal basis for the school choice enrollment according to local, state or federal policy or regulation. (The descriptor provides the list of available bases specific to the state).
SchoolSchoolTypeThe type of education institution as classified by its primary focus.StandardYesYes
SectionSectionCharacteristicReflects important characteristics of the section, such as whether or not attendance is taken and the section is graded.Local
SectionSectionTypeSpecifies whether the section is for attendance only, credit only, or both.Flexible
StudentProgramAssociationServiceIndicates the service being provided to the student by the program.LocalYes
StudentSexA person's sex at birth.Standard
EducationOrganization
Student
StateAbbreviationThe abbreviation for the name of the state (within the United States) or extra-state jurisdiction in which an individual was born.StandardYes
Session
StudentAcademicRecord
TermA descriptor value to indicate the term that the session is associated with.Flexible
SchoolTitleIPartASchoolDesignationDenotes the Title I Part A designation for the school.StandardYesYes
tip

See Non-normative Descriptor Classifications for more information on Usage Classification.