Education in which children are taught at home, usually by their parents.

Mechanisms (including selective attention, metacognition, and emotional regulation) that combine memory, processing speed, and knowledge to regulate the analysis flow of information within the information-processing system. (Also called executive processes.)

A strategy in which school subjects are taught in both the learner’s original language and the second (majority) language.

An ongoing and nationally representative measure of U.S. children’s achievement in reading, mathematics, and other subjects over time; nicknamed “the Nation’s Report Card.”

A school funded by tuition charges, endowments, and often religious or other non-profit sponsors.

A U.S. approach to teaching English that gathers all the non-English speakers together and provides intense instruction in English. Their first language is never used; the goal is to prepare them for regular classes in English.

“Thinking about thinking,” or the ability to evaluate a cognitive task in order to determine how best to accomplish it, and then to monitor and adjust one’s performance on that task.

A strategy in which instruction in all school subjects occurs in the second (usually the majority) language that a child is learning.

A U.S. law enacted in 2001 that was intended to increase accountability in education by requiring states to qualify for federal educational funding by administering standardized tests to measure school achievement.

A public school with its own set of standards that is funded and licensed by the state or local district in which it is located.

Public subsidy for tuition payment at a nonpublic school. Vouchers vary a great deal from place to place, not only in amount and availability but also in restrictions as to who gets them and what schools accept them.

The logical principle that things can be organized into groups (or categories or classes) according to some characteristic they have in common.

The concept that things can be arranged in a logical series, such as the number sequence or the alphabet.

Inaugurated in 2001, a planned five-year cycle of international trend studies in the reading ability of fourth-graders.

The component of the information-processing system in which current conscious mental activity occurs. (Formerly called short-term memory.)

The unofficial, unstated, or implicit rules and priorities that influence the academic curriculum and every other aspect of learning in a school.

Piaget’s term for the ability to reason logically about direct experiences and perceptions.

The component of the information-processing system in which incoming stimulus information is stored for a split second to allow it to be processed. (Also called the sensory register.)

An international assessment of the math and science skills of fourth- and eighth-graders. Although the TIMSS is very useful, different countries’ scores are not always comparable because sample selection, test administration, and content validity are hard to keep uniform.

The component of the information-processing system in which virtually limitless amounts of information can be stored indefinitely.

Children in the United States whose proficiency in English is low—usually below a cutoff score on an oral or written test. Many children who primarily speak a non-English language at home are also capable in English; they are not ELLs.

A body of knowledge in a particular area that makes it easier to master new information in that area.