Glossary

Searchable glossary containing hundreds of definitions and descriptions of education terms, acronyms and abbreviations used by the LTS online service and in Scottish education.

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Naace (Advancing education through ICT)	Professional association for those concerned with advancing education through the appropriate use of information and communications technology (ICT). The letters of 'Naace' no longer form an acronym that describe all of the membership. Originally the letters stood for 'National Association of Advisors for Computers in Education'. However in January 2004 it merged with MAPE, a primary community, and CEG, a secondary community, so it now has a broader membership including teachers, lecturers, consultants, inspectors and other ICT leaders.
NAB (National Assessment Bank)	NAB materials are for teachers'/lecturers' use only and contain instruments of assessment, marking guidelines and other useful information relating to the internal assessment of National Qualifications.
NAPE (National Association for Primary Education)	A partnership which promotes the education of children from birth to 13 years old. Membership covers some 200,000+ people, including parents, teachers, school governors, inspectors, education officers and entire school communities.
Narrowband	A communications link consisting of bandwidth less than or equal to 64 Kbps.
NAS/UWT (National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers)	The largest union representing teachers and headteachers throughout the UK.
NASEN (National Association for Special Educational Needs)	The leading organisation in the UK which aims to promote the education, training, advancement and development of all those with special educational needs.
National Assessments 5-14	Assessment materials designed to support the 5-14 curriculum. Developed in collaroration with AifL - Assesment is for Learning, these are intended to be used by teachers in Scottish schools to confirm their judgements about pupils' levels of attainment in English Language (reading and writing) and Mathematics. These new assessments replace National Tests, which are being discontinued.
National Priorities in Education	The 2000 Act identifies Scottish Ministers' five national priorities in education: Achievement and Attainment; Framework for Learning; Inclusion and Equality; Values and Citizenship; and Learning for Life.
National Tests	In mathematics and in the reading and writing outcomes of the English language curriculum, these were part of the overall assessment strategy introduced in 1991. They have now been superseded by National Assessments 5-14.
Naturalistic intelligence	The ability to recognize and classify plants, minerals, and animals, including rocks and grass and all variety of flora and fauna.
NC (National Certificate)	The non-advanced post-school vocational certificate awarded by SQA.
NCCA (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (Ireland))	The role of the NCCA is to advise the Minister for Education and Science on curriculum and assessment for early childhood education and for primary and post-primary schools in the Republic of Ireland.
NCS (New Community Schools)	New community schools are now know as Integrated Community Schools. An integrated community school encourages closer and better joint working among education, health and social work agencies and professionals, greater pupil and parental involvement in schools, and improved support and service provision for vulnerable children and young people.
NDPB (Non-Departmental Public Body)	Public bodies are known in government circles as 'non-departmental public bodies' (NDPBs). They are often referred to by others as 'quangos' ('quango' derives from the name under which these bodies were previously known - 'quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations').These terms cover a wide and diverse range of organisations of varying size and responsibilities including executive and advisory NDPBs. LT Scotland is an executive NDPB. See related web link for information on executive NDPBs.
NEDD (New Educational Developments Division)	A division of SEED.
NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training)	A division of SEED.
Network	A series of points interconnected by communication paths. Networks can interconnect with other networks and can contain sub-networks.
Neurologist	A physician who diagnoses and treats disorders of the nervous system.
Neurology	Neurology is the scientific study of the brain.
Neuroscience	Neuroscience is the study of the human nervous system, the brain, and the biological basis of consciousness, perception, memory, and learning.
Neurotransmission	The passage of signals from one nerve cell in the brain to another via chemical substances or electrical signals.
New Age	The New Age is a free-flowing spiritual movement; a network of believers and practitioners who share somewhat similar beliefs and practices, which they add on to whichever formal religion that they follow. Unlike most formal religions, it has no holy text, central organization, membership, formal clergy, geographic centre, dogma, creed, etc.
New Community School	A school whose doors are open to those of all ages living within its area. Facilities and resources are made available to meet the learning and social needs of the community. Many such schools are now called Integrated Community Schools and facilitate collaboration among various agencies working in education, social work and health.
Newsgroups	A newsgroup is a series of messages which people post about a particular subject. Unlike chat rooms, newsgroups don’t provide real-time messages. Many newsgroups are moderated by a designated person who decides which postings to allow or to remove. All SSDN newsgroups will be moderated. See chat rooms.
Next steps	Assessment advice aimed at bridging the gap between present performance and desired goal. Advice on next steps should point to the most immediate action to be taken to bring about improvement.
NFER (National Foundation for Educational Research)	Largest independent educational research institution in Europe.
NGfL Scotland (National Grid for Learning Scotland)	A Scottish Government initiative that funds and supports projects which bring the benefits of information and communications technologies (ICT) to learning, teaching and community development in Scotland. It was set up in September 1999.
NI (National Intranet)	The Scottish Schools Digital Network consists of two major parts, the SSDN Interconnect (37 broadband connections providing links to Scotland's 32 local authorities, two national agencies and SEEMIS) and the SSDN Intranet (a secure online IP environment designed to deliver a range of critical services, applications and content to teachers, pupils and education managers across the country).
NIACE (National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (England and Wales))	A non-governmental organisation working for more and different adult learners.
Nintendo DS	A handheld games console created by Nintendo in 2004. Features include WiFi, microphone and touch screen display.
NLS (National Library of Scotland)	The National Library of Scotland is Scotland's largest library and the world centre for the study of Scotland and the Scots. Thanks to its UK legal deposit status, it is also a vast reference library, covering all subjects, from art to mountaineering, and from early times to the digital age. LT Scotland is currently working with the NLS on specific projects.
No hands up	A questioning strategy where pupils are not allowed to raise their hands if they know the answer. By establishing a rule of 'no hands up' in a question-and-answer session, distractions are reduced and pupils have more time to think. Because of this, everyone is expected to be able to offer an answer.
No marks homework	Work carried out outside class and assessed without awarding grades or marks. Pupils may self-assess by using traffic lighting, which involves assigning red, amber or green traffic lights to indicate levels of confidence; or teachers may advise in the form of comments, as a method of bridging the gap between present performance and desired goal.
Norm	A rule or a pattern that conforms to an authoritative or accepted standard. It also has statistical relevance – a norm-referenced test or examination, for instance, is one in which participants' grades depend on their position in the distribution of scores around the mean. In one version of this, a C grade would be achieved by those scoring around the mean, an A by those whose score is one standard deviation or more above the mean and an E by those one standard deviation or more below it.
NPs (National Priorities in Education)	The National Priorities in Education, as approved by the Scottish Parliament in December 2000, are defined under the following headings: Achievement and Attainment; Framework for Learning; Inclusion and Equality; Values and Citizenship; Learning for Life.
NQ (National Qualifications)	A single unified system of National Qualifications replacing the separate systems of academic and vocational qualifications which operated in Scotland until 1999. This system, which is managed by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), ensures that learners receive recognised awards for their achievements. National Qualifications are available at five levels: Access, Intermediate 1, Intermediate 2, Higher and Advanced Higher.
NQCS (National Qualifications Curriculum Support series)	A series of publications published by LT Scotland that supports National Qualifications.
NQT	Newly qualified teacher following a successful one year probationary period in school.