Maine Seal of Biliteracy

 

Awarding Process

Starting this school year, schools will be able to award the Seal of Biliteracy to students directly, without submitting an application to the Maine Department of Education. Each participating school will designate a local Seal of Biliteracy Coordinator, who will have several key responsibilities. The Department encourages teams of educators and other staff to collaborate on Seal implementation. Full details about the process and requirements are included in the new Maine Seal of Biliteracy Coordinator Guide. 

We are hopeful that these changes will increase accessibility to the Seal of Biliteracy and make the process easier and more streamlined for students and their teachers.

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Eligibility Criteria

For languages other than English, individual language domain (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) scores must be at intermediate mid proficiency or above. If a given test does not provide individual domain scores, the overall score must be at intermediate mid proficiency or above.

Students whose primary/home language is other than English may be eligible for an exemption from the reading and writing domains if they have not had sufficient educational opportunity to become literate in their language. Students who are deaf or hard of hearing may be eligible for an exemption from the listening domain. 

Language	Minimum Evidence of Proficiency
English	The student must have fulfilled (or be on track to fulfill, as of the start of their graduating year) the school’s English Language Arts requirements for graduation.
Additional Language	One of the following: Tests Available in Multiple Languages (Click on the links to see languages offered.) Score of 3 or above on World Language AP exam Score of 4 on IB World Language Exam B SL or HL exam Score of I2 or above on ACTFL Assessment of Performance Toward Proficiency in Languages (AAPPL) form B Achieve a proficiency rating of intermediate mid or higher on ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI/OPIc)** Score of 5 or above on Avant STAMP 4S Score of 5 or above on Avant STAMP WS (formerly WorldSpeak) Score of 4 on National Examinations in World Languages (NEWL) Score of 6 or ILR 1+ on ALTA Language Test Language-Specific Tests Score of 3 on American Sign Language Proficiency Interview (ASLPI) Score of Intermediate Plus on Sign Language Proficiency Interview (SLPI) Score of 5 on Avant Arabic Proficiency Test (APT) Score of CEFR B1 on Diplôme d’Etudes en Langue Française/Diplôme Approfondi de Langue Française (DELF/DALF) Score of CEFR B1 on Deutsches Sprachdiplom I (DSD) Score of CEFR B1 on Ellinomatheia Score of I2 on the ACTFL Latin Interpretive Reading Assessment (ALIRA) Score of Silver (Maximum Cum Laude) on the National Latin Exam: Intermediate Reading Comprehension Exam Score of 5 on Avant Spanish Heritage Language Test (SHL) Score of CEFR B1 on Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language (DELE) Score of CEFR B1 on Goethe-Institut German Exam Additional Pathways Provide transcripts from a school in a foreign country showing at least three years of instruction in the student’s home/native language in 8th grade or beyond, with an equivalent grade average of B or higher. For less commonly taught world languages and Native American languages without standardized testing options, please reach out to the Maine DOE Seal of Biliteracy coordinator, Rebecca Carey, at rebecca.carey@maine.gov to establish an appropriate measure of intermediate mid proficiency based on the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines.

**Students seeking the Seal of Biliteracy through the ACTFL OPI may be required to show proficiency in other available language modalities using the ACTFL Listening (LPT), Reading (RPT), and/or Writing (WPT) tests.

Contact:

Rebecca Carey
ESOL Consultant
rebecca.carey@maine.gov