New Mexico Statutes
Article 23 - Bilingual Multicultural Education
Section 22-23-2 - Definitions.

As used in the Bilingual Multicultural Education Act:
A. "bilingual learner" means a student whose bilingualism is emerging through the development of English and a language other than English;
B. "bilingual multicultural education program" means a program using two languages, including English and the home or heritage language, as a medium of instruction in the teaching and learning process;
C. "culturally and linguistically different" means students who are of a different cultural background than mainstream United States culture and whose home or heritage language, inherited from the student's family, tribe or country of origin, is a language other than English;
D. "district" means a public school or any combination of public schools in a district;
E. "English language learner" means a student whose first or heritage language is not English and who is unable to read, write, speak or understand English at a level comparable to grade level English proficient peers and native English speakers;
F. "heritage language" means a language other than English that is inherited from a family, tribe, community or country of origin;
G. "home language" means a language other than English that is the primary or heritage language spoken at home or in the community; and
H. "standardized curriculum" means a district curriculum that is aligned with the state academic content standards, benchmarks and performance standards.
History: 1953 Comp., § 77-23-2, enacted by Laws 1973, ch. 285, § 2; 2004, ch. 32, § 3; 2006, ch. 94, § 57; 2015, ch. 108, § 14; 2021, ch. 12, § 2.
The 2021 amendment, effective June 18, 2021, defined "bilingual learner" as used in the Bilingual Multicultural Education Act; and added a new Subsection A and redesignated the succeeding subsections accordingly.
The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, amended and removed certain definitions from the Bilingual Multicultural Education Act; deleted Subsection C, which defined "department", and redesignated former Subsections D through G as Subsections C through F, respectively; and deleted Subsection H, which defined "school board" and redesignated former Subsection I as Subsection G.
The 2006 amendment, effective July 1, 2007, added charter school in Subsection D and added governing body of a state-chartered charter school in Subsection H.
The 2004 amendment, effective May 19, 2004, in Subsection A, revised the definition of "bilingual multicultural education"; deleted Subsection B; redesignated Subsection C as Subsection B and changed the definition of "culturally and linguistically different", changed the definition of "department" to the public education department and revised the definition of "district"; and added new Subsections E through G and I.

Structure New Mexico Statutes