BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Alan Lowenthal, Chair 2011-2012 Regular Session BILL NO: AB 815 AUTHOR: Brownley AMENDED: May 27, 2011 FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 29, 2011 URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Kathleen Chavira SUBJECT : State Seal of Biliteracy. SUMMARY This bill establishes the State Seal of Biliteracy to be voluntarily affixed to the diploma or transcript of a high school graduate who has attained functional proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing skills in one or more languages, in addition to English. BACKGROUND Current law establishes requirements for the issuance of diplomas and certificates to students who complete a prescribed course of study. (Education Code § 51400-51442) Current law also provides for the Golden State Seal Merit Diploma to recognize students who have mastered specific courses in the high school curriculum. This voluntary program recognizes public school graduates who have demonstrated mastery of the high school curriculum in six designated subject areas, four of which must be mathematics, English language arts, science, and United States history. Qualifying students must be receiving a high school diploma and have earned designated results on the California Standards Test in six qualifying subject areas (previous Golden State Exam results may also be used). Each school district that confers high school diplomas is responsible for maintaining appropriate records in order to identify eligible students and for affixing a Golden State Seal Merit Diploma insignia to the diploma and transcript of each qualifying student. Foreign language can be one of the designated subject areas for which a student AB 815 Page 2 earns a Golden State Seal Merit Diploma. (Education Code § 51450-51455). ANALYSIS This bill : 1) Establishes the State Seal of Biliteracy, to be awarded by the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), to recognize high school graduates who have attained functional proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing skills in one or more languages, in addition to English. 2) Provides that school district participation in this program is voluntary. 3) Specifies the purposes of the State Seal of Biliteracy. 4) Specifies that awarding a graduating high school student the State Seal of Biliteracy certifies that the student has met the following requirements: a) Completed all English language arts requirements for graduation with an overall grade point average of 2.0 or above in those classes. b) Passed the California Standards Test in English language arts administered in grade 11 at the "proficient" level or above. c) Demonstrates proficiency in one or more languages other than English by: i) Passing a foreign language Advanced Placement (AP) exam with a score of 3 or higher or an International Baccalaureate exam with a score of 4 or higher (and requires the SPI to provide a listing of equivalent summative tests that schools may use in place of an AP test for languages for which an AP test is not available). AB 815 Page 3 ii) Successfully completed a four year high school course of study in a foreign language and attained an overall grade point average of 3.0 or higher in that course of study. iii) Passed a district language exam that, at a minimum, assesses speaking, reading, and writing in a language other than English at the "proficient" level or higher. iv) Passed a foreign government's approved language exam and received a receipt of a certificate of competency from the authorizing government agency. v) Passed the SAT II foreign language exam with a score of 600 or higher. 5) Provides that a student in grades 9-12 whose primary language is other than English, to qualify for the State Seal of Biliteracy, must: a) Meet all the requirements outlined in #4. b) Attain "early advanced proficiency" level on the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) and authorizes a participating school district to administer the CELDT an additional time as necessary for this purpose. 6) Provides that, for purposes of the State Seal of Bilteracy, "foreign language" means a language other than English and includes American Sign Language. 7) Requires the California Department of Education (CDE), under the direction of the SPI, to; AB 815 Page 4 a) Prepare and deliver to school districts an appropriate insignia to be affixed to the diploma or transcript of the student indicating that the student has been awarded a State Seal of Biliteracy. b) Provide other necessary information for school district's to successfully participate in the program. 8) Requires each school district that participates in this program to maintain appropriate records in order to identify students and to affix the appropriate insignia to the diploma or transcript of each student who earns a State Seal of Biliteracy. 9) Declares legislative intent that no fee be charged to students pursuant to the bill's provisions. STAFF COMMENTS 1) Need for the bill . According to the author, the purpose of the state Seal Of Biliteracy is to encourage students to study language, to certify mastery of two or more languages, to provide employers with a method of identifying prospective employees with language and biliteracy skills, to provide universities with a method of recognizing and giving academic credit to applicants seeking admission, and to promote foreign language instruction in public schools. According to the author, the Seal of Biliteracy program is currently being implemented by 34 school districts, each with a different seal design and different requirements for awarding the seal. This bill would create a uniform seal design and a uniform statewide set of criteria for awarding the seal. 2) Biliteracy . In order to be recognized as biliterate, this bill requires a student to demonstrate a high level of proficiency in English and in one or more other languages (including American Sign Language). English mastery must be demonstrated by having achieved an overall GPA of 2.0 in all English language art requirements and by passing the California Standards tests for grade 11 at the proficient level or above. Proficiency in a foreign language may be AB 815 Page 5 demonstrated by satisfying any one of 5 possible measures, including completion of a four year high school course of study in a foreign language with an overall GPA of 3.0. Students whose primary language is other than English must demonstrate an additional level of English mastery by attaining the "early advanced proficiency" level on the CELDT. 3) Insuring uniform criteria . The stated purpose of this bill is to create uniform statewide criteria for awarding the seal of Biliteracy. This bill authorizes passage of a foreign government's language exam as one measure of language proficiency. Should the State of California defer determination of language fluency to exams that it does not control and that are not designed, used, or validated by any other state entity in California to determine language proficiency? Staff recommends the bill be amended to delete passage of a foreign government's test as a measure of foreign language proficiency. This bill also recognizes passage of a district language examination as a measure of language proficiency. According to the sponsors, some districts have developed assessments in languages such as Vietnamese, Tagalog, Arabic, Armenian and Russian because "off the shelf" and language tests do not exist for some of these languages. In addition, students who take an AP language test late in their senior year do not receive results in time to have the seal affixed to their diploma. Staff further recommends that the bill be amended to clarify that a district administered test may only be used if no Advanced Placement or "off the shelf" language test exists and the district can certify that the test meets the rigor of a four year high school course of study in that foreign language. If a district language examination for which an AP or off-the shelf test exists, the test must be approved for this purpose by the SPI. 4) Prior legislation . AB 280 (Coto, 2007) was substantively similar to this bill. AB 280 was passed by the Legislature, but ultimately vetoed by the Governor whose veto message read, in pertinent part: AB 815 Page 6 While I support the attainment of literacy in foreign languages, I am concerned that this bill could create a precedent for providing special recognition for one specific subject area. Students taking four years of math or science, for example, would not receive special recognition, therefore creating a bias of value toward foreign language above other core curricula areas. Students should be encouraged to strive for, and value high achievement in all of their academic pursuits. Other similar bills include AB 1196 (Coto), which was heard and passed out of this Committee in January 2006 on a 7-4 vote. AB 1196 was subsequently amended to address a different subject matter and its contents amended into AB 2445 (Salinas). AB 2445 (Salinas) was passed by the Legislature in 2006, but ultimately vetoed by the Governor who cited concerns that, without uniform, consistent standards, employers and college admission counselors in search of qualified candidates would not be able to rely on the State Seal as a valid indicator of bilingual proficiency. SUPPORT Administrator in Charge, Oxnard Union High School District Advancement Project Asian Pacific American Legal Center California Association for Bilingual Education California Association for the Gifted California Federation of Teachers California Language Teachers Association California School Boards Association California Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Californians Together Families in Schools Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Los Angeles Unified School District Staff Public Advocates San Diego Unified School District State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson Superintendent, El Monte Union High School District Superintendent, Salinas Union High School District AB 815 Page 7 Superintendent, Santa Cruz City Schools Superintendent, Whittier Union High School District United Teachers Los Angeles Letters from individuals OPPOSITION None received.