Transitional bilingual education is an approach to bilingual education where the children first acquires fluency in their native language before acquiring fluency in the second language, where fluency is defined as linguistic fluency (such as speaking) as well as literacy (such as reading and writing). This is in contrast to total immersion bilingual education where the children are directly immersed in the second language. Transitional bilingual education is among those most commonly implemented in public schools across the United States. The application of transitional bilingual education in the United States ultimately resulted from an effort to officially recognize Chicano and Latino identities with the passage of the Bilingual Education Act. The goal of transitional bilingual education is to help transition a student into an English-only classroom as quickly as possible. A bilingual teacher teaches children in subjects such as math, science, and social studies in their native language so that once the transition is made to an English-only classroom, the student has the knowledge necessary to compete with his peers in all other subject areas. Transitional Bilingual Education programs are introduced in kindergarten and can continue up to grade six or seven. English as a second language courses are sometimes incorporated to provide supplemental instruction. Transitional bilingual education programs are divided into two categories: early-exit and late-exit. Early-exit programs begin with strong support in the students' native language; nevertheless, this support is rapidly diminished. Late-exit programs, on the other hand, maintain strong support in the primary language. The fundamental difference between these two models is the length of the program. Early-exit transitional bilingual education The main goal of early-exit programs is to expedite the acquisition of the second language so that language learners can be integrated into classrooms with native speakers. Less emphasis is placed on progress made in other subjects. There is not much importance assigned to the continued development of first-language skills. After one to three years in the program, students are expected to have acquired enough knowledge in the second language to be transferred to classes in which only the second language is used as a medium of instruction. In early-exit programs, a near-native proficiency in the target language is required of instructors. Institutions may vary in the amount of first-language instruction that is utilized. The degree to which the children's first language is spoken in the classroom depends on the proficiency level of the students, who