NYSTCE EAS (NYSTCE) key terms

Teaching that recognizes and values students' cultural backgrounds, uses them as resources for learning, and examines how school practices may privilege some cultures over others.

The skills, knowledge, experiences, and networks that families and communities possess and that teachers can draw on to make instruction more relevant and meaningful.

Providing each student with the support and resources needed to reach common high standards, recognizing that students begin from different circumstances; it is not identical treatment for everyone.

Unconscious attitudes or stereotypes that shape how a person perceives, judges, and acts toward others based on group membership, often without the person's awareness.

The anxiety people feel when they risk confirming a negative stereotype about their group, which can lower test performance, participation, and engagement in academic settings.

Interpreting a student's struggles as coming from personal, family, or cultural shortcomings rather than from instruction or systemic factors, which tends to lower teacher expectations.

The process by which a person adopts elements of a new culture while keeping parts of the native culture; it can vary by domain and generation.

Brief, everyday verbal, behavioral, or environmental slights-intentional or not-that send negative or demeaning messages to members of a marginalized group.

Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills: the conversational language used in social settings, which usually develops within one to three years of exposure to a new language.

Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency: the formal, content-specific language needed for school tasks, typically taking five to seven years or more to develop.

Language and content presented so learners can understand it-through visuals, gestures, repetition, and adjusted speech-while slightly stretching their current level.

The emotional and motivational state-anxiety, low confidence, stress-that can block or allow language input to be noticed, processed, and learned.

The practice of using all of a learner's languages flexibly and purposefully to build understanding, rather than keeping languages strictly separate during instruction.

Temporary supports such as models, prompts, graphic organizers, and sentence frames that help learners complete tasks they cannot yet do alone; supports are gradually removed.

The influence of a learner's first language on learning and using a second language, which can sometimes support understanding and sometimes produce errors.

Teaching grade-level content in English with strategies and supports that make the material understandable to English language learners while they develop proficiency.

A screening form families complete at enrollment that identifies languages spoken at home and helps determine whether a student should be tested for English proficiency.

A stage in second language acquisition when a newcomer listens and observes more than speaks; forcing output too early can increase anxiety.

A legally required written plan for a student eligible for special education that describes present levels, annual goals, services, accommodations, and placement.

A written plan under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act providing accommodations so a student with a disability can access the general curriculum and school activities.

The legal requirement that students with disabilities be educated alongside peers without disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate, with separate placement only when necessary.

The guarantee under special education law that eligible students receive special education and related services at public expense, designed to provide meaningful educational benefit.

The federal law governing special education for students ages 3 through 21, covering identification, IEPs, procedural safeguards, and services in the least restrictive environment.

A change in how a student accesses instruction or shows learning-such as extended time, preferential seating, or a read-aloud-without changing content expectations.

A change in what a student is taught or expected to demonstrate, such as reduced content, simpler texts, or alternate assignments, which alters learning expectations.

Devices, software, or equipment-ranging from pencil grips to speech-to-text programs-that help students with disabilities perform tasks and access learning.

A multi-tiered framework offering increasingly intensive, research-based instruction and regular progress checks to identify and support students with learning difficulties early.

Planning instruction from the start with multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression so a wide range of learners can access and show learning.

A disorder in basic psychological processes that affects listening, speaking, reading, writing, or mathematics, and is not primarily caused by other disabilities or environmental factors.

A process for identifying the purpose of a challenging behavior by examining antecedents, consequences, and setting events so an effective behavior support plan can be designed.

The legal duty of educators to report suspected child abuse or neglect promptly to designated authorities, without investigating the allegation themselves.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law that protects student education records and limits who may access or disclose them.

A New York law requiring schools to create safe, harassment-free environments, with policies on bullying, cyberbullying, and discrimination plus reporting and training requirements.

Adjusting content, process, product, or learning environment based on students' readiness, interests, and learning profiles so each student can make progress.

Building respectful, two-way partnerships with families through regular communication and shared decision making that support student learning at home and at school.

Teachers' deliberate examination of their own instruction, interactions, and assumptions in order to identify what is working and change what is not.

A proactive school-wide approach that teaches expected behaviors, reinforces them, and uses data to prevent and respond to discipline problems.