More students could get seal of biliteracy under new bill

Assembly Bill 370 passed both houses Monday and is headed to the governor’s desk.

If signed, the bill will give more opportunities for students to receive the seal of biliteracy, particularly students who learned English as a second language.

In order to earn the seal of biliteracy on their high school diploma, students must show proficiency in English and another language.

The bill expands the ways in which a student can show proficiency in English. Previously, a student had to complete all English language arts classes required for graduation with at least a 2.0 GPA and meet or exceed the English language arts portion of California’s standardized test in 11th grade. In addition, English learners had to show overall English proficiency on the English Language Proficiency Assessment of California.

If the new bill is signed by the governor, students could show proficiency in English in one of several different ways — by completing all English courses with a 3.0 GPA, meeting the standard on California’s standardized test in 11th grade, completing at least one college-level English language arts class with at least a 3.0 grade point average; achieving a score of 3 or higher on an English Advanced Placement exam or a score of 4 or higher on an English International Baccalaureate exam; or achieving a score of 480 or higher on the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section of the SAT.

This is similar to what is required of students to show proficiency in a language other than English to obtain the seal. Students can get a score of 3 or higher on an Advanced Placement exam or a score of 4 or more on the International Baccalaureate (IB) exam; take four years of classes in the language with a GPA of 3.0 or higher and demonstrate oral proficiency in the language by passing a district test with a score of proficient or higher; or pass the SAT II world language exam with a score of 600 or higher.

Advocates for the bill say that many bilingual students, particularly English learners, have not received the state seal of biliteracy, because there weren’t enough options to show students are proficient in English.