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A
Acculturate
The process of cultural change and adaptation that occurs when individuals from one culture come into continuous contact with another culture. Unlike assimilation, acculturation allows for the retention of some aspects of one's original culture while adopting elements of the new culture.
Additive Bilingual Programs
Educational programs that support students in developing proficiency in a second language while maintaining and strengthening their first language. These programs view bilingualism as an asset and aim to develop high levels of fluency and literacy in both languages, rather than replacing the home language with English.
Americanization
A process that emerged in the early twentieth century focused on educating immigrant children to shed their parents' cultures and embrace American ways, values, and language. This approach emphasized rapid assimilation and conformity to dominant American cultural norms.
Assimilation
The process of fitting immigrant children as quickly as possible into American lifestyles and common values, often expecting immigrants to abandon their native languages and cultural practices.
B
Bilingual Education Act
Federal legislation signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 (also known as Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act). The Act funded instructional materials, teacher training, and educational programs for students learning English. While it did not require schools to deliver instruction in languages other than English, it represented the first federal support for bilingual education.
C
Castañeda v. Pickard (1981)
A court case that established a three-prong test for determining whether schools are meeting their obligations to language-minority students: (1) programs must be based on sound educational theory, (2) programs must be implemented effectively with sufficient resources, and (3) programs must be evaluated for effectiveness after a trial period.
Community Language Schools
Educational programs often organized by parents and community members to offer heritage language instruction and cultural events, typically on weekends or after school. Examples include Saturday Chinese Language Schools and Sunday Hebrew Schools. These programs help maintain linguistic and cultural connections while also serving as community centers.
Contexts of Reception
The social, political, and institutional conditions that immigrants encounter when they arrive in a new country or community. These contexts can range from welcoming to hostile and significantly affect immigrants' integration, educational outcomes, and overall well-being. Schools are among the most important receiving institutions.
Cultural Pluralism
An approach that values and respects ethnic and cultural differences while preparing all children to become functioning members of society. Cultural pluralists oppose rapid assimilation of immigrant children and advocate for education that honors diverse cultural traditions.
D
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
An executive action issued by President Barack Obama in 2012 that provides temporary relief from deportation and work permits for undocumented individuals who were brought to the United States as children. DACA does not provide a pathway to citizenship and has faced multiple legal challenges.
Double Disadvantage
The compounding of economic disadvantages with attendance at lower-resourced, more segregated schools. Immigrants from lower socioeconomic backgrounds often move to neighborhoods with schools that have fewer qualified teachers, more teacher turnover, and higher student-teacher ratios than schools in affluent neighborhoods, resulting in lower academic outcomes.
DREAM Act (Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors)
Proposed federal legislation that would provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented individuals who were brought to the United States as children. Despite popular and bipartisan support, Congress failed to pass versions of the DREAM Act multiple times between 2001 and 2021.
Dually Identified Students
Students who are both English Learners (ELs) and diagnosed with a disability. These students may face challenges in receiving appropriate services and are sometimes inappropriately excluded from dual language programs due to misconceptions about their abilities.
E
English as a Second Language (ESL)
Instructional programming designed specifically to help students who speak other languages develop English proficiency. ESL instruction focuses primarily on English language acquisition rather than maintaining home languages.
English Learner (EL)
A student who is in the process of acquiring English proficiency and has not yet demonstrated full proficiency on state assessments. Until students demonstrate proficiency, they are entitled to ESL services as established by the Lau v. Nichols ruling.
Equal Educational Opportunity Act of 1974
Federal legislation that supported bilingual education programs in public schools and reinforced the principles established in the Lau v. Nichols decision, requiring schools to take appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation in educational programs.
I
Immigration Act of 1965
Pivotal federal legislation that abolished the discriminatory national-origin quota system established in 1924, opening up large-scale immigration from Latin America and Asia. The Act gave priority to individuals with family members already residing in the U.S. and those possessing desirable skills.
L
Lau v. Nichols (1974)
Landmark Supreme Court case that ruled the failure of San Francisco schools to provide English-language instruction to Chinese American students denied them a meaningful education and violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This decision effectively outlawed "sink or swim" approaches and established schools' obligation to provide language support services.
Lau Remedies
Guidelines issued following Lau v. Nichols for school districts on how to identify children with limited English skills and on instructional approaches that would meet federal standards for equal treatment. The Remedies ordered districts to provide bilingual instruction, not just ESL programming, to elementary-aged children.
Linguistic Restrictionism
Policies and practices focused on limiting or eliminating the use of languages other than English in schools and public life. These policies are generally more concerned with social control than with helping students who speak languages other than English.
Long-term English Learner
A student who has been in U.S. schools for at least six years but has not yet been redesignated as a former English learner. Long-term ELs may understand and speak English well but struggle with academic reading and/or writing for various reasons, including limited literacy in their home language, multiple moves, or undiagnosed learning disabilities.
N
Nativists
Progressive-era reformers who insisted on rapid Americanization or outright exclusion of immigrants they labeled as "undesirable." Nativists often viewed immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, Asia, and other non-western European regions as threatening to American cultural unity and social order.
O
Office of Civil Rights (OCR)
Federal agency within the Department of Education that enforces civil rights laws in education. In 1970, OCR issued guidance requiring schools to offer special language instruction for children acquiring English and to communicate with parents in languages they could understand.
P
Parochial Schools
Private schools affiliated with a religious organization, particularly the Roman Catholic Church. Many immigrant groups, especially Polish and Irish Catholics, established and attended parochial schools to maintain religious and cultural traditions while providing education for their children.
Pluralists
Progressive-era reformers who valued ethnic differences and preferred education that respected cultural pluralism while also preparing every child to become a functioning member of society. Pluralists wanted to avoid assimilating immigrant children too quickly or completely.
Plyler v. Doe (1982)
Supreme Court case that ruled 5-4 that blocking undocumented children from public education violates the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. The Court determined that denying these children public education "imposes a lifetime hardship" and forecloses their ability to contribute to society.
Push-in and Pull-out ESL Programs
Common ESL service delivery models where students are either removed from ("pulled out" of) their regular classroom for separate English instruction, or where an ESL specialist comes into ("pushes in" to) the regular classroom to provide support. These models often isolate language minority students and position them as having deficits requiring remediation.
S
Seal of Biliteracy
An award given in recognition of students who have attained proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation. First established in California in 2008, by 2020 all 50 states plus the District of Columbia had or were working toward establishing a state Seal of Biliteracy. The initiative aims to recognize bilingualism as an asset and encourage global competence.
Segmented Assimilation
A sociological theory describing how educational and social contexts differentiate paths toward assimilation into a new society. According to this theory, immigrants with lower educational attainment tend to assimilate into an underclass from which it is difficult to advance, while those with higher educational attainment can achieve upward mobility.
Sheltered Instruction
An ESL model where classrooms are often mostly or entirely composed of English Learners, with the teacher using specialized strategies to support both content learning and English language acquisition simultaneously.
Subtractive Schooling
A theory developed by Angela Valenzuela based on her ethnographic study of a Mexican-American high school in Texas. It describes the process by which cultural assets are subtracted from students as schools assimilate them into dominant American culture, forcing students to choose between abandoning their heritage or disengaging from school to preserve their positive ethnic identity.
T
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
A certification or training area for teachers specializing in English language instruction for non-native speakers. Over half of all states reported a shortage of TESOL-trained or certified teachers in the 2023-2024 school year.
Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
A designation established by the Immigration Act of 1990 to provide relief for immigrants fleeing disasters or armed conflict in their home countries. TPS provides temporary protection from deportation but not a pathway to citizenship or permanent residency.
Translanguaging
A pedagogical approach that views bilingualism not as having two completely separate languages but as having a unified linguistic repertoire. In classrooms, translanguaging encourages students to use their full linguistic repertoire to facilitate learning and communication, treating the mixing of languages as a natural communicative practice rather than an error.
Tuition Equity Laws
State policies that grant undocumented students who meet certain requirements (such as graduating from a state high school) access to in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities. As of 2024, twenty-five states and the District of Columbia had tuition equity laws. Research shows these laws correlate with higher graduation rates and college enrollment.
Two-way Bilingual Immersion
An additive bilingual program model that allows English-speaking students learning a second language to study alongside language minorities learning English. Classrooms typically balance 50% students learning English with 50% students learning a minority language (most often Spanish, French, or Mandarin), with half of instruction provided in each language.
U
Undocumented Immigrants
Immigrants who do not have official legal status such as Temporary Protected Status, permanent residency (green card), citizenship, or other authorization to live in the United States.
