October 20, 2015
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Education Week
Published Online: October 6, 2015
Published in Print: October 7, 2015, as Momentum Building for Biliteracy
More States and Districts Embrace Biliteracy
First grader Aston Prieto, 6, uses magnetic letters to form words in Italian at the Franklin International Language Academy
in Glendale, Calif. The district, home to seven dual-language-immersion elementary schools, was the first to recognize its
graduates for achieving biliteracy. California later adopted a statewide Seal of Biliteracy, the first state to do so.
—Emile Wamsteker for Education Week
A growing number of states and school districts are promoting bilingualism by offering
special recognition for high school graduates who demonstrate fluency in languages other
than English.
Thirteen states now offer a "seal of biliteracy," and at least 10 more are working toward
implementing a similar award. Students in nine of the nation's 10 largest school systems
can earn statewide or district-level recognition with the seal affixed to their diplomas or
transcripts as official proof that they can speak, read, and write in more than one language.
Shifting demographics and political dynamics have transformed views on multilingual
education in many parts of the country, paving the way for a focused examination of
educating the nation's 5 million K-12 English-learners and the importance of foreignlanguage instruction.
"It's a small thing really, a seal, a medallion. But it's a much larger issue than the seal of
recognition," said Shelly Spiegel-Coleman, the executive director of Californians
Together, a nonprofit group that advocates for English-language learners and is the main
proponent of the biliteracy seal. “Before this, having another language was a problem. Now,
we know that this is not a problem, it’s an asset.”
Spiegel-Coleman’s home state of California was the first to adopt a seal, as part of an effort
to acknowledge students who learned English without losing their native language.
The nationwide growth and interest in the seal of biliteracy has mirrored the trends in
California. The number of students earning the seal there has tripled since it was first
offered in 2012, rising to nearly 32,000 for the class of 2015.
California’s statewide push was modeled after a 2002 effort in Glendale, Calif., a district
where about a third of students are ELLs.
The school system has honored nearly 4,400 students with silver, gold, and platinum
medals to recognize bilingual, trilingual, and quadrilingual students, respectively.
The district laid groundwork for the effort after the statewide passage of Proposition 227, a
ballot measure that severely restricts the availability of bilingual education in favor of
English-only immersion programs for ELLs. While not an outright ban on bilingual education,
the measure almost eliminated it from public schools.
“We were still dealing with strong anti-bilingual sentiment,” said Kelly King, the assistant
superintendent of the Glendale Unified district who oversees ELL services.
Second grader Bodhi Weatherford, 7, reviews vocabulary during a French class at the Franklin International Language
Academy in Glendale, Calif. Since 2002, the Glendale district has given special recognition to students who demonstrate
biliteracy.
—Emile Wamsteker for Education Week
The tide has since turned. Come November 2016, California voters will have a chance to
repeal Proposition 227.
Spiegel-Coleman said it’s telling that, through 2014, 40 percent of students who’ve earned
the state’s seal of biliteracy were former ELLs. Californians Together leaders have even had
preliminary discussions with leaders from several state colleges and universities about
developing a similar initiative for postsecondary education, she said.
International Competition
Educators say that earning the seal of biliteracy could give students an advantage, opening
the door for college scholarships, internships, and jobs that require proficiency in a
language other than English.
“The business community has recognized the need,” said Elena Fajardo, an administrator in
the California education department’s English-learner support division.
Beyond shedding a more positive light on bilingualism, proponents say the seal allows
employers and colleges to distinguish between people who can get by in another language
from those who are truly fluent.
Officials with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation say the growing interest in seals of
biliteracy is promising if the United States wants to play a leading role in the global
economy.
“We need to be thinking about the future now,” said Jaimie Francis, the senior manager of
programs and operations for the foundation’s Center for Education and Workforce.
The organization’s state-by-state report card on K-12 educational effectiveness bemoans
the lack of foreign-language proficiency among American students. The group places the
blame on dwindling foreign-language-instruction options, especially in earlier grade levels.
“There’s opportunity and room for improvement here,” Francis said.
While many U.S. states require some world language credits for graduation, a Pew Research
Center report found that most students in European countries begin compulsory
foreign language instruction before the age of 10.
California: Birthplace of 'Biliteracy Seal'
Since 2012, the state of California has offered a special designation or “seal” on the diplomas or transcripts
of students who demonstrate that they can speak, read, and write in more than one language.
SOURCE: California Department of Education
With even more states considering adding the seal, four national professional organizations
that represent language educators drafted recommendations for the seal of biliteracy.
Among them: ELLs should demonstrate proficiency on state tests for English/language arts
for all students and English-language development for English-learners; and native English
speakers seeking to demonstrate proficiency in another language should achieve a statedetermined minimum score on any number of tests, including Advanced Placement or
International Baccalaureate exams, and tribal-language assessments.
According to the organizations, it’s hard to track how many states have based seal
requirements on their guidelines, especially since at least seven states already had
approved seal programs. The implementation is just as challenging to track, as some states
have turned it over to individual districts to implement, said Martha Abbott, the executive
director of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
In California alone, more than 260 districts offer the seal of biliteracy.
“We don’t have data to determine whether the seal of biliteracy is something that people
actually take seriously,” said Nelson Flores, an assistant professor in the educational
linguistics division of the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. “That’s
going to depend on how it’s implemented in each of the states.”
'Symbolic Gesture'?
Supporters say the seal of biliteracy has changed the conversation around multilingual
education in unexpected places.
In Colorado, the Adams 14 district, which is under a compliance agreement with federal civil
rights officials for systemic discrimination against bilingual teachers and ELLs, is one of
three school systems piloting a seal of biliteracy option with hopes for statewide approval.
But the seal has proved most popular in the Western, Southwestern, and Northeastern
United States, with many Southern and Plains states making little or no effort to adopt the
recognition.
Flores fears the seals may overwhelmingly benefit affluent, high-achieving students while
ignoring the needs of ELLs.
Most backers are from “self-selecting states that already support bilingual education,” he
said.
To this point, the seals are “an important symbolic gesture,” Flores said. “It’s just the first
step. We have to keep going and ask, ‘What are states doing to help students develop
bilingual skills?’ ”
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Staff members in Glendale Unified are taking those steps, pouring more resources into
foreign-language instruction from the start.
A quarter of the district’s kindergartners are enrolled in dual-language immersion programs,
and school officials have also looked to strengthen foreign education offerings in secondary
schools. The programs teach the curricula for students in two languages to help them
achieve bilingualism and biliteracy.
“You have to provide multiple pathways for students,” said King, the assistant
superintendent who oversees English-learner services. “We opened the door for our district
and community to embrace and institutionalize an expectation that our students become
bilingual and biliterate.”