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This is an essential guide for educators, administrators, policymakers, and the media. Glossaries are dynamic expressions of current language usage. Education has changed dramatically in recent years, and so must also the language used to describe and define them. We believe this glossary is useful for a wider field of educators promoting student success. This glossary provides precise language and definitions to use when communicating with peers and more effectively influencing administrators, legislators, and the media.
Less Acceptable Terms for Students
These terms have been used to describe students but are now designated as “less acceptable” since they are binary and factually inaccurate. In the future, these terms may be designated as unacceptable for use. A few glossary terms are included that help explain why the other terms were designated as less acceptable. The use of many of these words was explored in Terms of Endearment: Words that Help Define and Guide Developmental Education (Arendale, 2005) and Words Make a Difference: The Influence of Language on Public Perception (Arendale, 2007). Electronic links to both articles are available in the reference section at the end of the glossary.
Before using a term to describe a group of students who share a characteristic, ask yourself if you would use the same term when speaking directly with a single student from this group. An extreme example is, “Steve, your problem is that you are learning disabled.” Instead, the conversation could begin, “Steve, let’s have a conversation about some of the different ways you learn.” Steve has already been living with his challenges, probably tested numerous times, and has heard the label of his academic capability. He probably would like to problem-solve his situation with a caring and knowledgeable professional. A preferred term could be learning differences. This example is not intended to judge the professional. Instead, it examines the conversation from the student’s perspective. That perspective is their truth and reality.
The following provides a rationale for not using binary language to label students as developmental:
The relative need and usefulness of learning assistance for an individual student depend on the overall academic rigor of the institution, the subject matter studied, or even how one faculty member teaches a particular course compared with another from the same academic department. Therefore, the same individual could be a major consumer of learning assistance at one institution and not at another or even in one academic department and not another in the same institution. The need for learning assistance services is not a characteristic or universal defining attribute of the student; it depends on the conditions and expectations of the specific learning environment for a particular course. All college students are on a continuum between novice and master learner. Learning assistance serves students located along this continuum through a wide range of activities and services. The same student is often located at different places on multiple continuum lines simultaneously, one for each academic context and skill area (Arendale, 2010, p. 2).
academically underprepared student
1. Definition: A less acceptable term for a student who is projected to have academic difficulty in a particular college-level course. APA (2020) advises positioning the person first and utilizing non-stigmatizing language when describing them. The term is BINARY because it labels the student in one overall category or the other. The term is inaccurate because students have varying English, mathematics, and reading skills. The underprepared area should be clearly stated. Few students are underprepared in all academic content areas and skills.
2. Examples: Steve is academically underprepared for success in a college-level mathematics course while he is prepared for other classes.
3. Compare with BINARY CLASSIFICATION OF PEOPLE, DEFICIT LANGUAGE, DEVELOPMENTAL STUDENT, REMEDIAL STUDENT, STEREOTYPE THREAT, and STIGMA.
binary classification of people
1. Definition: Categorizing individuals into one discrete group or another. Such division of people is seldom accurate due to their DIVERSITY and can create implicit discrimination and perceptions of deficits of one group.
2. Examples: ACADEMICALLY UNDERPREPARED STUDENT, DEVELOPMENTAL STUDENT, HIGH-RISK STUDENT, MINORITY STUDENT, REMEDIAL STUDENT, and SPECIAL POPULATION.
3. Compare with DEFICIT LANGUAGE, STEREOTYPE THREAT, and STIGMA.
deficit language
1. Definitions: (a) Description of the academic capabilities of students that focuses on their incompetence (such as lack of fluency in English); status (such as first-generation or low-income); or cultural background (such as immigration status) rather than asset-based language that identifies their strengths; (b) Language that can be interpreted as affixing responsibility on students for their failure to achieve at the same level as advantaged and privileged students; and (c) A less acceptable term that can disparage individuals in a social group in comparison to others by implying their membership condition extends to all areas of their academic capabilities.
2. Examples: ACADEMICALLY UNDERPREPARED STUDENT, DEVELOPMENTAL STUDENT, DIVERSE STUDENT, HIGH-RISK STUDENT, MAJORITY/MINORITY STUDENT, REMEDIAL STUDENT, SPECIAL POPULATION, and PERSON/STUDENT OF COLOR.
developmental student
1. Definition: A less acceptable term for a student enrolled in a developmental-level course. APA (2020) advises positioning the person first and utilizing non-stigmatizing language when describing people. The term is BINARY because it labels the student in one overall category in comparison to the other. The term is inaccurate because students have varying levels of skill in English, mathematics, and reading.
2. Compare with ACADEMICALLY UNDERPREPARED STUDENT, BINARY CLASSIFICATION OF PEOPLE, DEFICIT LANGUAGE, DIVERSE STUDENT, HIGH-RISK STUDENT, REMEDIAL STUDENT, SPECIAL POPULATION, STEREOTYPE THREAT, and STIGMA.
diverse student
1. Definition: A less acceptable term for a student based on the definition for DIVERSITY which states that all students are diverse in some way. It is a BINARY term because it divides all people into either DIVERSE or not DIVERSE. In common vernacular, it has too frequently been used as a code for identifying another person as being from a different culture or RACE other than their own.
2. The glossary term diversity is defined as identifying differences in demographics and identities that all people possess. Based on this definition, we are all DIVERSE from one another. People are an amazing collection of different demographics and multiple identities aligned or in conflict with one another. All of this creates uniqueness for each one of us. Therefore, the term DIVERSE STUDENTS was deemed less acceptable. In common vernacular, White speakers have too frequently used DIVERSE as a code for identifying people as being from a culture or race other than their own.
3. Compare with BINARY CLASSIFICATION OF PEOPLE, DEFICIT LANGUAGE, DIVERSITY, MAJORITY/MINORITY STUDENT, NEURODIVERSITY, STEREOTYPE THREAT, and STIGMA.
high-risk student (sometimes called the “at-risk” student)
1. Definition: A less acceptable term for a student who is projected to have academic difficulty in one or more college-level courses. APA (2020) advises positioning the person first and utilizing non-stigmatizing language when describing people. The term is binary because it labels the student in one overall category or the other. The term is inaccurate since students have varying levels of skill in English, mathematics, and reading. The underprepared area should be clearly identified.
2. Example: Steve is at high risk for noncompletion in a college-level mathematics course while he is academically prepared for other classes.
3. Compare with ACADEMICALLY UNDERPREPARED STUDENT, BINARY CLASSIFICATION OF PEOPLE, DEFICIT LANGUAGE, DEVELOPMENTAL STUDENT, MINORITY STUDENT, REMEDIAL STUDENT, SPECIAL POPULATION, PERSON/STUDENT OF COLOR, STEREOTYPE THREAT, and STIGMA.
learning styles
1. Definition: This is a less acceptable glossary term since the research has been mixed regarding whether students have a particular LEARNING STYLE (Dembo, M. H., & Howard, K. (2007). The more common term in usage is LEARNING PREFERENCES in which individuals are more flexible regarding their preferred learning approaches.
2. Compare with LEARNING PREFERENCES.
majority/minority student
1. Definition: Recommended to be a less acceptable term for students since APA (2020) advises positioning the person first and utilizing non-stigmatizing language when describing them. The term is BINARY since it labels the student in one overall category or the other. The term can create implicit discrimination and perceptions of deficits.
2. Compare with ASSET BASED LANGUAGE, BINARY CLASSIFICATION OF PEOPLE, DEFICIT LANGUAGE, DIVERSE STUDENT, DIVERSITY, STEREOTYPE THREAT, STIGMA, STUDENT HISTORICALLY-UNDERREPRESENTED, and STUDENT MARGINALIZED.
remedial student
1. Definition: Recommended to be a less acceptable term for a student who is projected for academic difficulty in a course at any school level. APA (2020) advises positioning the person first and utilizing non-stigmatizing language when describing them. The term is binary since it labels the student in one overall category or the other. The term is inaccurate since students have varying levels of skill in English, mathematics, and reading. The underprepared area should be clearly stated.
2. Example: Steve is academically underprepared for success in a DEVELOPMENTAL-LEVEL MATHEMATICS COURSE while he is prepared for other COLLEGE-LEVEL classes).
3. Compare with ACADEMICALLY UNDERPREPARED STUDENT, BINARY CLASSIFICATION OF PEOPLE, DEFICIT LANGUAGE, DEVELOPMENTAL STUDENT, HIGH-RISK STUDENT, STEREOTYPE THREAT and STIGMA.
special population
1. Definition: Recommended to be a less acceptable term for students who share common characteristics and are often designated as HIGH-RISK STUDENTS. Such divisions of students are seldom accurate for all students categorized into the SPECIAL POPULATION and can create implicit discrimination and perceptions of deficits.
2. Compare with ACADEMICALLY UNDERPREPARED STUDENT, BINARY CLASSIFICATION OF PEOPLE, DEFICIT LANGUAGE, DEVELOPMENTAL STUDENT, DIVERSE STUDENT, MAJORITY/MINORITY STUDENT, REMEDIAL STUDENT, STEREOTYPE THREAT, STIGMA, STUDENT HISTORICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED, and STUDENT MARGINALIZED.
stereotype threat
1. Definition: Belief that puts students at risk of conforming to negative stereotypes about their social group(s). Individuals’ anxiety about their performance may hinder their ability to perform to their full potential. Importantly, individuals do not need to subscribe to the stereotype for it to be activated (Steele, 1997).
2. Compare with ACHIEVEMENT GAP, ACADEMICALLY UNDERPREPARED STUDENT, DEFICIT LANGUAGE, DEVELOPMENTAL STUDENT, DIVERSE STUDENT, HIGH-RISK STUDENT, MAJORITY/MINORITY STUDENT, PERSON/STUDENT OF COLOR, REMEDIAL STUDENT, SPECIAL POPULATION, STIGMA, STUDENT HISTORICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED, and STUDENT MARGINALIZED.
stigma
1. Definitions: (a) Labeling by others or self-identification of individuals who lack academic achievement, economic status, or other measures of value. STIGMA can lead to barriers for improvement; and (b) Negative perception due to association with something that others perceive as negative.
2. Compare with ACADEMICALLY UNDERPREPARED STUDENT, DEFICIT LANGUAGE, DEVELOPMENTAL STUDENT, DIVERSE STUDENT, HIGH-RISK STUDENT, MAJORITY/MINORITY STUDENT, PERSON/STUDENT OF COLOR, REMEDIAL STUDENT, SPECIAL POPULATION, STEREOTYPE THREAT, STUDENT HISTORICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED, and STUDENT MARGINALIZED.