Glossary

SABE

Spanish Assessment of Basic Education. The SABE is a series of norm-referenced tests for grades one through eight designed to measure achievement in the basic skills of reading, mathematics, spelling, language, and study skills. It is statistically linked with the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) and the California Achievement Tests (CAT) (Hargett, 1998).

SAIP

Special Alternative Instructional Programs. Under former Title VII of the ESEA, SAIPs were defined as K-12 instructional programs for limited English proficient students that did not incorporate the native language.

SAT 9

Stanford Achievement Test, ninth edition. Wide-scale norm-referenced assessment of English Reading, Language Skills, Math Procedures & Problem Solving, Listening, Science, and Social Studies. The SAT 9 test has not been normed on a population with a large percentage of ELLs.

SEA

State educational agency.

SEI

Structured English immersion. See structured immersion.

SOLOM

The Structured Oral Language Observation Matrix, developed by the San Jose Area (California) Bilingual Consortium, is used to assess oral proficiency only. The SOLOM is sufficiently generic to be applicable to languages other than English. The SOLOM is not a test per se, but rather a rating scale that teachers can use to assess their students' command of oral language on the basis of what they observe on a continual basis in a variety of situations-class discussions, playground interactions, encounters between classes. The teacher is responsible for matching students' performance in 5 domains to the rating scale. SOLOM scores represent whether a student can participate in oral language tasks typically expected in the classroom at his or her grade level. However, it should not be used as the sole measure of a student's proficiency in academic English (Hargett, 1998).

Sample

The group of subjects from which data is collected. In other words, the group of people who participate in the study and whose data is used by the researcher.

School Community

The school community is comprised of all persons within
the school and all persons in the attendance area of the school, as well as the
geographical and physical environs. For selected considerations, "school
community" may be considered to include some contiguous portions of the larger
society, as appropriate.^[1]

Scientifically Based Research

As defined by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:^[3]

The term scientifically based research' —
(A) means research that involves the application of rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain reliable and valid knowledge relevant to education activities and programs; and
(B) includes research that —
(i) employs systematic, empirical methods that draw on observation or experiment;
(ii) involves rigorous data analyses that are adequate to test the stated hypotheses and justify the general conclusions drawn;
(iii) relies on measurements or observational methods that provide reliable and valid data across evaluators and observers, across multiple measurements and observations, and across studies by the same or different investigators;
(iv) is evaluated using experimental or quasi-experimental designs in which individuals, entities, programs, or activities are assigned to different conditions and with appropriate controls to evaluate the effects of the condition of interest, with a preference for random-assignment experiments, or other designs to the extent that those designs contain within-condition or across-condition controls;
(v) ensures that experimental studies are presented in sufficient detail and clarity to allow for replication or, at a minimum, offer the opportunity to build systematically on their findings; and
(vi) has been accepted by a peer-reviewed journal or approved by a panel of independent experts through a comparably rigorous, objective, and scientific review.

Second Language

This term is used in several ways and can refer to 1) the second language learned chronologically, 2) a language other than the native language, 3) the weaker language, or 4) the less frequently used language. Second language may also be used to refer to third and further learned languages (Harris & Hodges, 1995).

Secondary School

As defined by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:^[3]

The term secondary school' means a nonprofit institutional day or residential school, including a public secondary charter school, that provides secondary education, as determined under State law, except that the term does not include any education beyond grade 12.

Semilingualism

A pejorative term used to describe bilingual individuals who display the following characteristics in both languages: a small vocabulary, incorrect grammar, must consciously think about language production, stilted and uncreative with each language, and difficulty thinking and expressing emotions in both languages (Skutnabb-Kangas, 1981).

Separate Underlying Proficiency (SUP)

The largely discredited idea that two languages exist separately and work independently in the thinking system (Baker, 2000). The opposing theory is Common Underlying Proficiency (CUP).

Sheltered English

An instructional approach used to make academic instruction in English understandable to English language learners to help them acquire proficiency in English while at the same time achieving in content areas. Sheltered English instruction differs from ESL in that English is not taught as a language with a focus on learning the language. Rather, content knowledge and skills are the goals. In the sheltered classroom, teachers use simplified language, physical activities, visual aids, and the environment to teach vocabulary for concept development in mathematics, science, social studies and other subjects (National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education, 1987).

Silver Standard (Promising rsearch)

Examines the relationship between the program or practice on student achievement but cannot determine the cause, or controls everything except the assignment of groups (random assignment) or other aspects of the study.