This article won third place in the 2023 Michigan Interscholastic Press Association spring awards ceremony.
On November 28, 2022, students attending the high school received an email from the guidance office introducing the Michigan Seal of Biliteracy. Per the email, the Seal of Biliteracy “recognizes high school graduates who exhibit language proficiency in English and at least one additional language.”
Michigan is the 36th state in the country to introduce a Seal of Biliteracy to high schools. The program was approved by the State Board of Education on January 9, 2018. Over 40 schools in the state have already installed the program, and even more are in the process.
Leading the valuable change to the school’s system of verifying and rewarding language proficiency is English as a Second Language (ESL) consultant Leigh Ann Hoffman. Her experience working with bilingual students has made her passionate about providing this opportunity.
“[The Seal is] nice because it allows future employers to know where a student’s language skills are across all domains of listening, speaking, reading and writing, but it’s also nice for colleges to see the student is considered bilingual by the state of Michigan,” Hoffman said. “[It] helps with course placement.”
In addition, Hoffman sees the career benefits from achieving the deal helping students past their formal education.
“English is a widely spoken language across the world, but 200,000 workers in Michigan are employed by foreign companies,” Hoffman said. “Students who are already bilingual [are] more marketable and ready to step into careers.”
Although Hoffman led the push for introducing the Seal of Biliteracy for high school students, the counselors in the counseling office aided the program set up and provided information to students.
For counselor Kasey Hagler, the seal brings a much needed formal measure of students’ language skills that weren’t previously available.
“Students have gone on and taken college level [language classes], but we still lacked a consistent measure,” Hagler said. “I think this is an assessment that several different school districts are using to measure [language proficiency].
Earning the Seal of Biliteracy requires students to prove their aptitude in a language other than English by taking a standardized test and getting an intermediate-high proficiency score, in addition to meeting English language graduation requirements.
However, students only need to meet intermediate proficiency to get something out of taking the test.
“There is a lower level score that awards [certified biliteracy,] but not the seal,” counselor Dion Charity said. “In the end game, if [students] were to pass out the high proficiency, they would have a seal showing their fluency and then also be awarded at the Honors Convocation.”
The Honors Convocation is an award ceremony for graduating seniors that celebrates all of their achievements during high school. The Seal of Biliteracy will be one of those achievements listed, and students who attain intermediate-high proficiency will be given an official letter and certificate and a gold foil seal by the Michigan Department of Education.
To use for college or job applications, the official seal will be placed on the official diploma and transcript the student receives, reading “Michigan Biliteracy Seal Awardee – [Language]/English.”
Another unique aspect of the seal is the sheer amount of languages offered through the program. Not only does it deliver more than 25 different languages, but it also takes into account the individual aspects of each language.
While covering the four main sections of language– reading, writing, listening and speaking– the program adjusts for non-spoken languages like Latin and non-written ones like American Sign Language.
“What’s really nice about this is that it’s really inclusive of a lot of languages, even languages that don’t have a written [form],” Hoffman said. “So students that are learning American Sign Language can be eligible to get the Seal of Biliteracy.
Hoffman and the counseling office are prioritizing students in their junior or senior years, as the Michigan Department encourages the test to be taken then to get the most accurate reflection of their language skills going into college or to the workplace. This year’s test is scheduled for the spring, although the date has yet to be announced.
Because of the comprehensive material on the test, Hoffman encourages students to be at or above the fourth year of language at the high school for best success.
“[Students] will be expected to read paragraphs in Spanish and construct a written response to different tasks,” Hoffman said. “They’ll have to listen to conversations and respond, so they will definitely need a higher level foreign language class in order to achieve the required benchmarks score.”
Senior Yajaira Munoz is a member of Hoffman’s ESL students. She grew up speaking mostly Spanish and is currently signed up to take the test.
“All my life I’ve spoken Spanish,” Munoz said. “I think starting in Kindergarten I learned English. I speak English at school and at home to my parents, because they want to learn as well.”
Munoz is going to college to prepare for a job that utilizes her advantageous skill set. She hasn’t decided on a major, but knows whatever she ends up doing will be aided by her biliteracy.
“Having a second language offers so many different career opportunities, and that is definitely an advantage,” Munoz said. “I feel the Seal of Biliteracy will be useful.”
Hagler feels that the Seal of Biliteracy supports students just like Munoz further in life.
“I think it’s going to capture a portion of our student body population that might not have been recognized,” Hagler said. “Having proficiency in another language is a valued skill in the workplace or even in colleges and such.”
Being noticed for her hard work in both languages is something Munoz looks forward to. For her, officially being certified as biliterate by the state of Michigan is a big honor.
“I don’t think most people know that I’m actually bilingual. They’re all like, ‘Oh, you can speak a second language?’” Munoz said. “This [will prove that.]”
Hoffman sees the possibilities of the program as “limitless.” She shares Hagler’s sentiment of wanting to commend the biliterate students at the high school.
“We’re really excited [for this opportunity],” Hoffman said. “It’s nice because it’s inclusive of English learners, and students who are studying Spanish or another foreign language. Hopefully, this will value the skills that a lot of our students have but aren’t always recognized or seen.”
