Terms used to describe the Dual language participants, educators, and research definitions.
Definitions
Bilingualism: Research in the field of education for English language learners clearly indicates that bilingualism is an asset to students cognitively, socially, and academically. Beyond the benefits for English language learners, research, as well growing public opinion, points to the benefits of development of bilingualism and biliteracy for students' competitiveness in the 21st century.
Bilingualism vs. Biliteracy: While bilingualism means the ability to fluently speak in two languages, biliteracy denotes an individual’s ability to fluently speak, read, listen, and write proficiently in two languages. Today, many educational programs are focusing on pursuing bi-literacy, including the recent creation of a Seal of Biliteracy award that students can earn upon high school graduation. To earn this distinction, students must participate in a five-year, rigorous, standards-based program and demonstrate mastery of listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in both languages on high-stakes assessments.
Bilingual Instructor: Educator certified with a state-endorsed bilingual certificate
Classified Staff: School employee that does not need certification or licensure to qualify for the job.
Conditions: We broadly define conditions as socioeconomic, cultural, and policy circumstances that exist in local school districts. A broad approach is necessary to evaluate whether intentional policy design has been an effective tool for recruitment of dual language certified teachers or if effects are negligible compared to factors largely outside the control of school administrators.
Conditional Certification: The Washington state Conditional Teacher Certificate serves as a tool for school districts to hire someone with expertise in an area, usually when they cannot find a certified teacher in a specific endorsement area. This certificate is valid for up to two years and is initiated by the employer through submission of a district request.
Dual Language: A Dual Language Education is developing literacy while learning core content in two languages. These content-driven programs begin at kindergarten and continue through high school to meet the goals of bilingualism, biliteracy, high academic achievement, and sociocultural competence.
Early Education: OSPI defines early education a Pre-Kindergarten through third grade.
Encourage: Encourage, in this context, means to promote, positively allow, solicit, and/or enable the employment of dual language certified teachers. We define it as such because we are interested in studying specific and motivated recruitment, rather than coincidence.
English Language Learner: A student between the ages of 3-21 enrolled in basic education who has a native language other than English and is in the process of acquiring academic English language proficiency. Also referred to as English learners(Els), Dual-language learners (DLs).
English Language Learner Education: Education tailored to teach non-native English speakers English to prepare them for a monolingual society, rather than offering instruction in their native language.
ELP Exam: (Acronym) English Language Proficiency (ELP) assessments are used to measure students' reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills in English and place them into education programs.
Exit: "Exit" is a term used to describe the point in which an English Learner leaves an EL program, often after scoring adequately on their ELP Exam, and enters general education.
Monitoring: Districts monitor and regularly assess the progress of all EL students (including those who have opted out of EL programs), in both English language proficiency (ELP) and content knowledge. This includes conducting an annual ELP assessment and, at least annually, measuring their performance in grade-level core content areas to ensure they are meeting prescribed benchmarks.
Newcomer Program: Newcomer programs are programs designed for recent immigrants at the secondary school level who have little or no English proficiency, and limited or no formal education in their native countries. These programs have been developed to meet newcomers' needs before they enter into general education classrooms.
Paraprofessional: A paraprofessional educator, also known as a para-educator, is a teaching-related position within a school generally responsible for specialized or concentrated assistance for Washington students in K-12.
Recruitment: We specifically define recruitment of a dual language teacher as a teacher entering a job in a school district with an endorsement, or an existing teacher gaining an EL or bilingual ed endorsement and continuing to teach in the same school district.
Retention: We define retention as the individual-level longevity of teachers in a given school district. Controlling for retention is important, because hiring teachers that then subsequently leave, or equipping teachers with a dual language certificate only to have them teach elsewhere, is a critical indicator of the strength of a districts dual language efficacy.
SEA/LEA: (Acronym) State Education Agency (SEA) / Local Education Agency (LEA)
Teacher: Certificated classroom teacher" and "teacher" mean a certificated employee who provides academically-focused instruction to students and holds one or more of the certificates pursuant to WAC 181-79A-140 (1) through (3) and (6)(a) through (e) and (g).
Workforce: We define workforce as credentialed teachers and support staff actively pursuing employment in a K-12 school or employed in a K-12 school.
