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
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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).
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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;
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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
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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:
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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
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Superintendent, Santa Cruz City Schools
Superintendent, Whittier Union High School District
United Teachers Los Angeles
Letters from individuals
OPPOSITION
None received.