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Glossary

All A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other
Mainstream
Classes designed for native or fluent speakers of English, in which no accommodations are made for ELLs.
Maintenance Bilingual Education
MBE, also referred to as late-exit bilingual education, is a program that uses two languages, the student's primary language and English, as a means of instruction. The instruction builds upon the student's primary language skills and develops and expands the English language skills of each student to enable him or her to achieve proficiency in both languages, while providing access to the content areas.
May 25th Memorandum
To clarify a school district's responsibilities with respect to national-origin-minority children, the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, on May 25, 1970, issued a policy statement stating, in part, that "where inability to speak and understand the English language excludes national-origin-minority group children from effective participation in the educational program offered by a school district, the district must take affirmative steps to rectify the language deficiency in order to open the instructional program to the students."

Click here for the full text of the May 25th Memorandum
Mentoring
As defined by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:[3]

The term mentoring', except when used to refer to teacher mentoring, means a process by which a responsible adult, postsecondary student, or secondary school student works with a child to provide a positive role model for the child, to establish a supportive relationship with the child, and to provide the child with academic assistance and exposure to new experiences and examples of opportunity that enhance the ability of the child to become a responsible adult.
Metalinguistic Skills
The ability to to talk about language, analyze it, think about it, separate it from context, and judge it. Metalinguistic skills, such as phonemic awareness and sound-to-symbol correspondence are regarded as key factors in the development of reading in young children and they may be prerequisite to later language acquisition in reading and writing. Research shows that balanced bilinguals have increased metalinguistic awareness in their abilities to analyze language and their control of internal language processing (Baker, 2001).
Migrant Education
Education programs established mainly to meet the needs of children of farm laborers, who often face such challenges as poverty, poor health care, limited English proficiency, and the readjustments of moving often from school to school. Migrant Education is part of Title I of the ESEA (Education Week, 2001).
Mission Statement
A district mission statement translates customer
requirements into a statement of what the district is going to do, for whom and
how it will be done. The process of missioning brings key stakeholders of the
district together to articulate a clear and focused statement of purpose. The
following is an example of one district's mission statement: The mission of our
school district is to work together for highest student achievement by creating
and improving the district as a learning system. [1]
Monitor Model
In the monitor model, Krashen postulates the existence of an internal "Monitor", used as part of the conscious process of error correction in language production. The Monitor plays only a minor role (when compared to the role of acquisition) in developing fluency. This model later became part of the Natural Approach to language teaching, which describes two modes of learning language: acquisition (non-formal) and learning (formal). The Monitor model is part of the formal learning mode (Krashen & Terrell, 1983).
Mother Tongue
This term variously means (a) the language learned from the mother, (b) the first language learned, (c) the 'mother tongue' of an area or country, (d) the stronger (or dominant) language at any time of life, (e) the language used most by a person, (f) the language toward which the person has the more positive attitude and affection (Baker, 2000). See also native language.
Multilingualism
Use of three or more languages. See also bilingualism.


The contents of this website were developed under a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Education. The information presented on this website is intended for general reference purposes only, and information/linked content is not necessarily endorsed by the Mid-Continent Comprehensive Center or the U.S. Department of Education.