How to Implement the Global Seal of Biliteracy
for Community-based Heritage Language Schools
The Global Seal of Biliteracy™ is excited to offer a language certification program to Community-Based Heritage Language Schools who would like to award a Seal of Biliteracy to their students and staff. We strongly echo the recommendation made by The American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2017 report, America’s Languages: Investing in Language Education for the 21st Century, to “Support heritage languages already spoken in the United States, and help these languages persist from one generation to the next.” The Global Seal is proud to partner with heritage language schools to provide the advantages of a Seal of Biliteracy to their students.
The Global Seal credentials language learners for workplace-ready skills in two or more languages as demonstrated through externally validated testing. The Global Seal of Biliteracy™ is awarded at the Functional Fluency™, Working Fluency™ and Professional Fluency™ levels and is available in over 100 languages. The free Global Seal of Biliteracy provides learners with recognition and advanced placement opportunities; providing an inclusive opportunity for language users of any age or from any school to be credentialed for language skills. Community-based Heritage Schools that participate in the Global Seal program benefit from increased program visibility and retention.
Step 1: Apply
Celebrating your language learners with the Global Seal of Biliteracy is a simple process. Go to our website at www.theglobalseal.com to learn about our program. To certify with the Global Seal program, click the APPLY button and fill out the online application. The application will let us know who you are and how we can best help you meet your language credentialing needs. You can fill out the application before or after you have tested students. If your school is new to proficiency testing, it will be helpful to review our qualifying tests and requirements. Our website includes FAQs as well as a contact form for questions. The Global Seal of Biliteracy application, a personalized serial numbered certificate suitable for framing, and fluency level-specific seal are free!
Step 2: Test
To award a Global Seal of Biliteracy, we require validation of language skills in two languages. After completing the online application you’ll receive information on how to submit documentation to prove your candidates’ first or native language proficiency as well as how to provide us with your candidates’ test score(s) for the second language that you wish to credential. Applications in the United States must include English as either their first or second language for their first Global Seal certification. Multilingual candidates are encouraged to earn Global Seal credentials for each language in which they have proficiency. The Global Seal of BIliteracy has approved tests in over 100 languages. Our qualifying tests and requirements can be found at theglobalseal.com/qualified-tests. You can submit results from approved proctored language proficiency tests that have been taken within the last 12 months.
The Global Seal of Biliteracy offers three levels of certification: Functional Fluency™, Working Fluency™ and Professional Fluency™ on both the ACTFL and CEFR proficiency scales. Award testing can be done at any time of the year at any level. Global Seal does not cover the cost of tests. We encourage candidates to take our free language proficiency self-assessment to determine their likely current language level.
Step 3: Receive
Once we have received your school’s application, qualifying test scores, and supporting documentation, eligible candidates will receive a Global Seal! We mail the signed Global Seal of Biliteracy award certificates for each candidate together with embossed seals to your school for free! Then plan your Celebration! Fluency-level medals can be ordered for a small fee if desired.
The Global Seal of Biliteracy™ organization, founded and sponsored by Avant Assessment, has an independent Board of Advisors who advise and guide the program’s mission.
Resources
Click to Download
Click to Download
The Global Seal provides schools with resources to promote and support your program, including our "We Credential With" badge and flyer.
We invite you to listen to a podcast featuring our Global Seal Executive Director, Linda Egnatz, and Global Seal Board of Advisor member, Maria Carreira, who serves as Co-Director of the National Heritage Language Resource Center at UCLA.
Resources
We congratulate you on your interest in the Global Seal of Biliteracy and our pathway awards. To further support and recognize your students with a State Seal of Biliteracy, we'd like to offer these resources and suggestions.
There's no guarantee that your students will be included, but equity begins with some investigation and conversation. First, you'll need to know if your students' regular school participated in their State Seal program. The program is optional in all states.
Contact your students’ schools and inform them about your program. They may not know that their students are also enrolled in an additional language school program.
If the school does participate in a State Seal program, request that they include your students to add to the language diversity of their recipients. Let them know that you test with a test accepted by your state (see our State Seal resources page), and that the test was given under standardized testing protocols to ensure test validity.
We include a template letter that you can include when sharing test scores with another school for recognition. We suggest you customize the letter and use your letterhead. Ask the school if the student can bring it in a sealed envelope or if you can send it via email. This guarantees no test score tampering.
We hope these tips and guidelines will help you to get your students recognized. Note that there are a few states where non-public schools can participate.
Learn more about the Global Seal supporting resources to incentivize and recognize language learning success that are critical to meeting these goals. The Global Seal of Biliteracy is excited to provide classroom tools to track and recognize progress on the pathway toward language proficiency.
Why The Association of Bulgarian Schools in America (ABSA) values the Global Seal:
Angela Hasheva
Founder and Executive Director, The Association of Bulgarian Schools in America
Founder and Principal, The Bulgarian School of Seattle
Language Representative, National Coalition of Community-based Heritage Language Schools
“What the Global Seal award does for our heritage language learners and schools is to create a foundation of worthiness. It creates a world of opportunities for our students and Heritage Language educational communities nationwide.”
The Global Seal of Biliteracy Guiding Principles of the assessments have often been referred to in order to create more effective writing and oral practices to guide students to higher levels.
It is beneficial for teachers to learn what goal each school has and the ways their instruction achieves that goal.
The Global Seal proficiency guidelines play an important role in promoting closer articulation between K-12 and college levels
The activities of preparing students for the Global Seal of Biliteracy credential are designed to give Teachers of Heritage Learners the opportunity to discuss levels in light of proficiency guidelines and their curriculum development with their colleagues from community-based Heritage Language schools
The Global Seal of Biliteracy promotes proficiency-related research and provide venues to disseminate such research. Sharing the results of such research is contributing greatly to the field of the community-based schools heritage language instruction.
