Medfield HS Students Massachusetts Seal of Biliteracy Program

Medfield HS Students Participate in Massachusetts Seal of Biliteracy Program

The Medfield Public Schools has proudly participated in the State Seal of Biliteracy program since 2019 and so far has awarded 136 state seals to our graduating seniors beginning with the class of 2020. The languages honored have included Spanish, Portuguese, Latin, French, Mandarin Chinese, Lithuanian, and Japanese. Students earn this honor upon their graduation from high school. They must demonstrate proficiency in English by attaining a score of 472 or higher on the ELA MCAS and a score of Intermediate High in each domain of the second language: Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening. The assessment in the second language must be approved by DESE. Full guidance can be found on the state seal website: https://www.doe.mass.edu/scholarships/biliteracy/

The Massachusetts Seal of Biliteracy program was signed into law in 2017 for the following reasons:

• Encourage students to study and master languages;
• Certify attainment of biliteracy skills;
• Recognize the value of language diversity;
• Provide employers with a method of identifying people with language and biliteracy skills;
• Provide universities with a method to recognize and give credit to applicants for the attainment of high-level skills in languages;
• Prepare students with skills that will benefit them in the labor market and the global society; and
• Strengthen intergroup communication and honor the multiple cultures and languages in a community

While the seal itself is a graduation award, it helps us to verify and honor the diversity of languages and cultures within our community. To develop high-level skills in any second language can require hundreds of hours of immersion/ exposure. Therefore, we want all families to be aware of our participation in this program.