News

Revised! Biliteracy Pathway Certificate Guidance

MATSOL

Newly revised Biliteracy Pathway Certificate Program Guidance is now available!

The updated guidance includes:

  • Revised assessments requirements for meeting the certificate criteria.
  • Best practices and resources for implementing the program.
  • Downloadable certificates.

The Language Opportunity Coalition (LOC) Biliteracy Pathway Certificate Program is designed to celebrate the linguistic diversity of students and encourage long-term language learning. It consists of a series of Biliteracy Pathway Certificates that celebrate and recognize a student’s language skills. 

The certificates can be awarded to students at different points in their education at three different proficiency levels (Novice-High, Intermediate-Low, and Intermediate-Mid), based on proficiency assessments in English and one or more partner languages. The LOC Biliteracy Pathway Certificate program can also play a role in preparing students to earn the State Seal of Biliteracy at high school graduation by encouraging continued language development. 

The LOC Biliteracy Pathway Certificates can be given to any student, at any age and grade level, and to students in any type of language learning program. Recipients may include students in World Language, English Language Education, Dual Language Education, Language Immersion, and Transitional Bilingual Education programs, as well as students who are learning languages at home, in after school language programs or in private schools. 

The language proficiency criteria for the certificates is based on the proficiency guidelines of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and WIDA.

Find out more at BiliteracyPathwayMA.us

Urgent Action Needed: State Seal of Biliteracy for Class of 2022

MATSOL

We, the undersigned, are educators implementing and supporting the Massachusetts State Seal of Biliteracy in our school districts. We request urgent action to change the Massachusetts State Seal of Biliteracy criteria for English language proficiency so that graduating seniors in the class of 2022 have the opportunity to earn the award. The criteria is based on the 10th grade ELA MCAS exam, which was cancelled in the spring of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, depriving students in the Class of 2022 the opportunity to earn the award.

The State Seal of Biliteracy is a popular and growing award program in Massachusetts that recognizes graduating seniors who attain a high functional and academic level of proficiency in English and in another language (a World Language). In 2020, 1,790 students from 97 schools were awarded the State Seal of Biliteracy, including 69 English learners receiving recognition for their heritage language. 

The opportunity to earn the State Seal of Biliteracy is especially important now since institutions of higher education in Massachusetts have begun to grant 6-12 college credits for prior learning to students who received the award in high school. If students in the class of 2022 are prevented from earning the State Seal of Biliteracy, they will not have the option to earn college credit.

Sign on to support this statement

Background: 

  • The criteria for demonstrating English language proficiency for the State Seal of Biliteracy is based on the 10th grade ELA MCAS exam (603 CMR 31.00 — M.G.L. c. 69, §§ 1Q). The MCAS score required for graduation is also the minimum score for the State Seal of Biliteracy. Students must also complete assessments in a language other than English (World Language). Testing is usually completed by March of their senior year. Pre-pandemic, the English language proficiency criteria was aligned with graduation requirements, so students who met the competency determination for graduation also satisfied the English proficiency criteria for the award.
  • 10th Grade ELA MCAS test was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic, affecting all students graduating in the class of 2022. 
  • The legislature empowered the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to modify the MCAS requirement for graduation (competency determination) for the classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022. Under this modification, students who could not take MCAS due COVID-19 can still meet the requirements for graduation but could not earn the State Seal of Biliteracy.
  • In June 2021, the legislature empowered DESE to modify the 10th Grade ELA MCAS requirement for the State Seal of Biliteracy for the classes of 2020 and 2021, to be applied retroactively, but NOT for Class of 2022. (Acts of 2021, Charter 29, Sec 58)

Urgent Action Needed

Students in class of 2022 can graduate without taking MCAS, but these graduating seniors will NOT be able earn the State Seal of Biliteracy because they cannot fulfill the English proficiency criteria without an MCAS score. 

We ask that the modification approved in the English language proficiency criteria for the classes of 2020 and 2021 be extended to class of 2022 and for any possible future classes affected by a change in the 10th Grade ELA MCAS requirement for the competency determination.

We request urgent action on this issue to allow enough time for World Language testing to be completed in January through March 2022:

  • Teachers need enough time to schedule and administer the World Language assessments before graduation.
  • Students must know that they meet the English proficiency criteria before signing up for the World Language assessments.
Sign on to support this statement

Find out more about the State Seal of Biliteracy

HELP WANTED: Website Support for Biliteracy Pathway Awards

MATSOL

A grant-funded position overseen by MATSOL 
$1,000 stipend
Jan-Jun 2023

Biliteracy Pathway Awards are given to elementary and middle school students who are developing proficiency in English and an additional language. Coordinated by the Language Opportunity Coalition (LOC), the awards are designed to create a pathway for long-term language learning and prepare students to earn the Massachusetts State Seal of Biliteracy at high school graduation. 

This grant-funded project focuses on updating the coalition’s website to facilitate sharing of resources between educators implementing the awards and improving award data collection.  The position may be expanded or extended if additional funding is received. The work can be carried out on a flexible self-paced schedule.

Tasks

  • Working with SOBL Workgroup, update the SealOfBiliteracyMA.org website (https://sealofbiliteracyma.org/) with new and revised content for Biliteracy Pathway Award implementation. 
  • Improve Pathway award data collection: Summarize data from 2019-22; Revise data collection tool (Google Form) for 2023 awards; Do outreach to EL/WL directors to collect Pathway award data.

Qualifications

  • Familiarity with the Massachusetts State Seal of Biliteracy and LOC Biliteracy Pathway Award programs. 
  • Technical skills: Google Suite (Doc, Forms, Sheets); Creating and editing pages and posts in WordPress
  • Good writing and communication skills

To apply, send a resume and letter of interest to apply@matsol.org by January 15, 2023.

State Seal of Biliteracy Update for Class of 2022

MATSOL

Graduating students in the Class of 2022, who were not able to take 10th Grade ELA MCAS due to the pandemic, now have the opportunity to earn the Massachusetts State Seal of Biliteracy. Legislation passed in December allows 2022 graduates who earn the modified competency determination in ELA to also satisfy the English language criteria for the award.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is pleased to announce a recent and important update regarding the Seal of Biliteracy. Recent legislation has been enacted which allows students who graduate in 2022 to satisfy the English criteria for the Massachusetts State Seal of Biliteracy by fulfilling the English Language Arts (ELA) modified competency determination requirements for graduation.

The LOOK Act requires students to demonstrate their proficiency in English by means of the Grade 10 English Language Arts (ELA) MCAS. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some students in the graduating classes of 2020, 2021, and 2022 have experienced difficulties accessing the ELA MCAS. Last summer, Chapter 29 of the Acts of 2021 temporarily permitted the Commissioner to “establish an alternative means of demonstrating English language proficiency for the state seal of biliteracy for students in the class of 2020 or 2021.” On Monday, December 13, 2021, Governor Baker signed An Act Relative to Immediate Covid-19 Recovery Needs, which extends this provision students who will graduate in 2022. In accordance, 2022 graduates who earn the modified competency determination in ELA will also satisfy the English language criteria for the Massachusetts State Seal of Biliteracy.

https://www.doe.mass.edu/scholarships/biliteracy/

In their statement, the Department acknowledged the advocacy of the Language Opportunity Coalition on this issue. In October 2021, almost 100 language educators who implement the Seal of Biliteracy signed onto the Coalition’s statement Urgent Action Needed: State Seal of Biliteracy for Class of 2022 and provided stories about how the issue would impact their students.

We would like to thank Sen. Sal DiDomenico, who filed the amendment to make the modification, and the legislators who supported the change, including co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Education, Sen. John Lewis and Rep. Alice Peisch, Senate President Sen. Karen Spilka, and Speaker of the House Rep. Ronald Mariano.