California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2303

Introduced by Assembly Member Bloom

February 21, 2014

An act to add Article 11 (commencing with Section 33460) to Chapter 3 of Part 20 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to biliteracy education.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2303, as introduced, Bloom. State Recognition and Awards Program in Linguistic Biliteracy.

Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to award a State Seal of Biliteracy. Existing law provides that the State Seal of Biliteracy certifies attainment of a high level of proficiency by a graduating high school pupil in one or more languages, in addition to English, and certifies that the graduate meets specified criteria, including, but not limited to, passing the California Standards Test in English language arts administered in grade 11 at the proficient level or above. Existing law also requires a pupil in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, whose primary language is other than English, to meet these same requirements and to also attain the early advanced proficiency level on the English language development test in order to qualify for the State Seal of Biliteracy.

This bill would establish the State Recognition and Awards Program in Linguistic Biliteracy to be administered by the State Department of Education to recognize school districts demonstrating excellence in providing and supporting multiple opportunities for pupils to attain high achievement and linguistic biliteracy in grades 1 to 12, inclusive, through biliteracy programs, as specified.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(1) In 2012, California became the first state in the nation to
award a State Seal of Biliteracy, pursuant to Article 6 (commencing
with Section 51460) of Chapter 3 of Part 28 of Division 4 of Title
2 of the Education Code, to graduating seniors with demonstrated
proficiency in two or more languages.

(2) This groundbreaking step was acknowledgment of the
economic and social value of multilingualism, the realities of a
global century, and of the high level of academic achievement
associated with attainment of literacy in multiple languages.

(3) In the context of the rollout of new common core standards,
the State Seal of Biliteracy also rounded out the very notion of
college and career readiness for this diverse and global 21st century
world.

(4) Ten thousand Seals of Biliteracy were awarded in the first
year for proficiency in 29 languages, including American Sign
Language.

(5) By June 2013, the number had more than doubled with 170
school districts, 19 charter schools, and six county offices of
education providing 21,655 awards to graduating seniors.

(6) Across the nation, other states were inspired to follow
California’s lead. In 2013, New York and Illinois adopted State
Seals of Biliteracy, and three additional states have pending
legislation.

(7) In addition to the establishment of the State Seal of
Biliteracy, other major changes recognizing the benefits of
biliteracy have occurred, including all of the following:

(A) Increased numbers of two-way immersion programs in our
public education system.

(B) Adoption in 2009 of California’s first World Language
Content Standards providing direction for the state’s world
language programs and the acknowledgment for the need for
developing “global competency.”

(C) Inclusion of the recommendation to “ensure English literacy
and biliteracy through a statewide campaign to better prepare
parents and students to support literacy” in the Blueprint for Great
Schools developed by the Transition Advisory Team of the
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson in 2011.

(8) These changes have led to an increased awareness and
acknowledgment of the benefits of multilingual proficiency and
result in the desire for additional opportunities to obtain
multilingual proficiency. However, these efforts are not enough.

(9) It is clear that increasing the number of graduating pupils
with multilingual skills is critical for the economic and societal
needs of our state.

(10) California needs people with biliteracy skills and
cross-cultural competencies to work in and fuel our economy, to
strengthen our social cohesion, and to enrich the quality of life in
our communities.

(11) Pathways toward the global competency and linguistic
skills pupil need to be established. These pathways can address a
shortfall in needed skills in our communities and economy. It is a
recognition of the vibrancy and value of cultural diversity, and it
helps address the achievement gap for our English learners.

(12) California, the most ethnically and linguistically diverse
state in the nation and the birthplace of the State Seal of Biliteracy,
is the place to break new ground in the creation of comprehensive,
articulated, and powerful pathways to biliteracy.

(13) A powerful first step in establishing these pathways is to
provide state recognition to school districts that establish and
maintain comprehensive, articulated pathways to biliteracy that
include multiple entry points, provide a continuum of language
development in prekindergarten, kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12,
inclusive, and lead to the attainment of the State Seal of Biliteracy.

(b) It is therfore the intent of the Legislature to do both of the
following:

(1) Establish state recognition and awards to school districts
that provide multiple programs moving pupils through a language
learning continuum of study that is well articulated and
comprehensive for the purpose of attaining biliteracy by its pupils.

(2) Identify multiple pathways to biliteracy that school districts
may utilize in developing its comprehensive biliteracy program.

SEC. 2.  

Article 11 (commencing with Section 33460) is added
to Chapter 3 of Part 20 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Education
Code, to read:

 

Article 11.  State Recognition and Awards Program in Linguistic
Biliteracy

 

33460.  

For purposes of this article, “biliteracy” means the
ability to express oneself with clarity and cogency, to read and
write cogently, and to compute and think critically in two or more
languages. It includes the ability to function in and across language
communities. For English learners, this includes the development
of academic proficiency in the pupil’s primary language as well
as in English.

33461.  

(a) The State Recognition and Awards Program in
Linguistic Biliteracy is hereby established to be administered by
the department to recognize school districts demonstrating
excellence in providing and supporting multiple opportunities for
pupils to attain high achievement and linguistic biliteracy in grades
1 to 12, inclusive, through biliteracy programs.

(b) The department shall use appropriate state and federal
moneys to implement this article.

33462.  

(a) The department shall recognize and award the
governing board of a school district under the State Recognition
and Awards Program in Linguistic Biliteracy if the school district
meets any of the following criteria:

(1) Has established and maintained for pupils in grades 9 to 12,
inclusive, for at least two years, a well-articulated State Seal of
Biliteracy program meeting the requirements established in Section
51461 and has established and maintained multiple pathways to
biliteracy pursuant to Section 33463.

(2) Has established and maintained for pupils in prekindergarten,
kindergarten, and grades 1 through 8, inclusive, a system of
benchmarking progress and recognition of pupil participation and
progress along a continuum toward high-level proficiency in two
or more languages. This may include the creation of pathway
awards aligned to milestones and critical developmental points
along the pathway towards biliteracy, culminating in the awarding
of the State Seal of Biliteracy at graduation from high school.
Critical development points include, but are not limited to, the
completion of preschool, third grade, elementary school, and
middle school.

(3) Has met the criteria of paragraphs (1) and (2) for pupils in
prekindergarten, kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12, inclusive.

(b) In addition to the requirements of subdivision (a), a school
district also shall meet all of the following criteria:

(1) Has a well-articulated plan for pupils in prekindergarten,
kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, that describes the
language programs that comprise a coherent set of language
development opportunities. The plan shall include consideration
of all of the following:

(A) Integration of English learner services with world language
programs.

(B) The amount of time allotted to language study, sequencing,
and articulation.

(C) Inclusion of multiple entry points into language learning.

(D) Equitable access to language learning.

(E) Inclusion of the different needs of groups of pupils and
having specific strategies for English learners, standard English
learners, heritage learners, and English monolingual pupils.

(F) Inclusion of a developmental window from 4 to 8 years of
age, inclusive, for language learning in which pupils are able to
develop native-like proficiency in multiple languages.

(G) Consideration of language priorities where the governing
board of a school district has to carefully consider a balance
between a desire to offer multiple languages and the realities of
investment and space within school schedules to accommodate
the sequence of courses involved in building to high levels of
proficiency.

(2) Has supported quality implementation, including qualified
language teachers; a retention, recruitment, and professional
development system that results in identifying and hiring teachers
with needed skills; collaboration and planning time for teachers
to align and articulate the language curriculum across grade levels
and schools; and providing teachers with professional development
support to effectively implement research-based language strategies
and methodologies.

(3) Has created a districtwide, communitywide, and school
culture that celebrates language and cultural diversity in the pursuit
of biliteracy as a needed 21st century skill.

33463.  

For purposes of demonstrating a school district qualifies
for the State Recognition and Awards Program in Linguistic
Biliteracy, the governing board of a school district may implement
the following program models for the study of world languages:

(a) “FLEX” (Foreign Language experience, exposure,
enrichment, or exploratory) may be implemented for a regular
schoolday or an extended schoolday for prekindergarten,
kindergarten, and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, and includes all of the
following:

(1) Has classes that meet only once or twice a week.

(2) Has classes that are introductory and provide exposure.

(3) May be delivered during school or after school.

(4) Introduces pupils to one or more languages and cultures
other than their own in order to motivate them to pursue further
language study.

(5) Has varied objectives depending on the specific program,
length of instruction, and type of instruction.

(b) “FLES” (Foreign Language in Elementary Schools) may be
implemented as a period within a schoolday or an extended
schoolday for kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, and
includes all of the following:

(1) Are less intensive than immersion.

(2) Teaches the target language for designated periods of time,
but varies a great deal in the amount of time devoted to foreign
language learning.

(3) Follows the natural sequence of language learning of
understand, speak, read, and write.

(4) Does not include academic study through the language, but
focuses on language study itself.

(5) Has proficiency goals and pupil outcomes that vary
according to the amount and type of instruction.

(6) Provides initial instruction and exposure to a second
language.

(7) Usually meets daily.

(8) Begins in kindergarten and continues through grade 6, but
may begin in grade 2, grade 3, or grade 4.

(c) “Transitional Bilingual” may be implemented as a whole
schoolday program for prekindergarten, kindergarten, and grades
1 to 3, inclusive, and includes all of the following:

(1) Are for English learners.

(2) Provides academic instruction and initial literacy
development in the home language along with English language
development, with increasing amounts of the English language
leading to full transition to the English language by the end of
grade 3.

(3) Provides that the goal is not biliteracy but a transition to
English.

(d) “Developmental Bilingual” may be implemented as a whole
schoolday program for prekindergarten, kindergarten, and grades
1 to 5, inclusive, and includes all of the following:

(1) Has a program for English learners using both the English
language and their first language for academic instruction and
develops literacy skills in both languages.

(2) Includes an additive approach that continues through grade
5 and an attainment of threshold literacy skills in both languages.

(3) Has the goal of biliteracy.

(e) “Immersion” may be implemented as a whole schoolday
program or a summer enrichment program for prekindergarten,
kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and includes all of the
following:

(1) Provides that the target language is used for all academic
instruction with the exception of language arts in English.

(2) Maintains a ratio of target language use to English language
use as high as 80 percent to 20 percent throughout kindergarten
and grades 1 to 6, inclusive.

(f) “Two-Way Immersion” (Dual Language) may be
implemented as a whole schoolday program for prekindergarten,
kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and includes all of the
following:

(1) Integrates native English language speakers and speakers
of another language by providing instruction in both languages for
all pupils.

(2) Promotes bilingualism and biliteracy, grade-level academic
achievement, and positive cross-cultural attitudes and behaviors
in all pupils.

(3) Has classes made up of roughly equal numbers of native
speakers of English and native speakers of the target language.

(4) Has each language roughly one-half of the time for academic
instruction in the 50/50 Two-Way Immersion model.

(5) Has the target language used for 90 percent of instruction
in the early years, usually tapering to 50 percent by grade 4 in the
90/10 Two-Way Immersion model. At the secondary level, pupils
continue to study academic content in the target language for at
least two periods a day.

(6) Typically begins in kindergarten or grade 1 and lasts at least
through grade 5, and preferably through grades 9 to 12, inclusive.

(g) “Native Speakers Courses” may be implemented as a period
offered during a schoolday or after school for grades 6 to 12,
inclusive, and includes all of the following:

(1) Designed to develop literacy, academic language, and
proficient skills in a language other than English for native speakers
of that language.

(2) Designed for pupils from homes in which the target language
is spoken and for pupils who speak or understand the target
language to some extent.

(3) Has the intent of these courses being to build on existing
skills of pupils and help them develop full academic proficiency.

(4) Requires Advanced Placement language courses.

(h) “Heritage Language” may be implemented as a period
offered during a schoolday or after school for kindergarten and
grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and includes all of the following:

(1) Are additive programs that enable
English-language-dominant pupils from language minority families
to reclaim their heritage language and receive an education that
incorporates a culturally responsive curriculum in school.

(2) Requires Advanced Placement language courses.

(i) “World Language Classes” may be implemented as a period
offered during a schoolday or after school for grades 6 to 12,
inclusive, and includes all of the following:

(1) Begins in middle school or high school.

(2) Has the curriculum aligned with the A to G requirements of
the University of California.

(3) Requires the study of the same world language for two years
in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, to meet the freshman admissions
requirements for the University of California and the California
State University.

(4) Requires Advanced Placement language classes.

(j) “Study Abroad, International Student Exchange Program”
for grades 6 to 12, inclusive, includes both of the following:

(1) Provides world language pupils with opportunities to travel,
live, and study for a short time in another nation.

(2) Includes trips sponsored by language clubs or language
courses for a few weeks or full semester, live-abroad placement
programs.