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OVERVIEW

The Seal of Biliteracy is an award given by the ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø School District to qualifying juniors or seniors** in recognition of students who have attained proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation. The Seal also recognizes, supports, and endorses students' first/home languages. The Seal is open to any student in grades 11 or 12 who qualifies, including immersion and non-immersion students, ELL students, and exchange students.The Seal encourages students to pursue biliteracy, honors the skills our students attain, and can be evidence of skills that are attractive to future employers and college admissions offices. It takes the form of a seal that appears on the diploma of the graduating senior and is also documented on their official transcript. With no state-adopted Seal at the time, ASD followed national guidance and established a district-sponsored *Seal of Biliteracy in 2016 (see below). 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than sixty-five million U.S. residents speak a language other than English at home—a number that has been growing decade by decade since the 1970s. Nevertheless, that number represents only 20.7 percent of the total population, and only a fraction of this cohort speaks, reads, and comprehends a second language well enough to use it in their everyday lives. The vast majority of American citizens remain monolingual.

While English continues to be the lingua franca for world trade and diplomacy, there is an emerging consensus among leaders in business and politics, teachers, scientists, and community members that proficiency in English is not sufficient to meet the nation’s needs in a shrinking world, nor the needs of individual citizens who interact with other peoples and cultures more than at any other time in human history (Commission on Language Learning, 2017, American Academy of Arts & Sciences). 

ASD juniors/seniors who earn the Seal of Biliteracy receive a qualification email, a certificate signed by the Superintendent, and a bronze lapel pin. A gold seal is placed on the student's diploma and documentation of the Seal, by language, is recorded on the student's official ASD transcript. Please note that if students qualify as a junior, they will receive a qualification email and the designation will be posted to their transcript. However, the certificate, lapel pin, and gold-embossed seal for the diploma will be awarded when they are a senior prior to graduation. 

*In the spring of 2022, the State of Alaska, Department of Education and Early Development, officially adopted the as a statewide recognition (4 AAC 06.077), becoming the 49th state to adopt such award. For more information on the national guidance on the Seal of Biliteracy, click . 

**Changes as of Spring 2021: Now both juniors and seniors may apply for the Seal of Biliteracy. This will allow students who qualify earlier to include this recognition in their college/university applications. Additionally, approved second language (STAMP, etc.) scores will now be accepted from the student’s sophomore, junior or senior years. Students must indicate which school year they are requesting scores to be from when they complete the application for the Spring 2023 Seal.

2025 Application will be available in January 2025

SPRING 2024 QUALIFICATIONS 

Students must meet the following requirements in order to be awarded the District’s Spring 2023 Seal of Biliteracy:

Student Requirements

To be awarded the Alaska Seal of Biliteracy, a high school junior or senior must meet the following criteria:

1) Demonstrate proficiency in the English language, and

2) Demonstrate proficiency in one or more world languages.

English Language Proficiency

Meet statewide minimum graduation requirements in language arts under 4 AAC 06.075 and one of the following:

World Language Proficiency (scroll down to see table with required scores)

Meet one of the following:

A student who seeks to qualify for the Seal of Biliteracy through a world language that is not characterized by listening, speaking, or reading, or for which there is no written system, shall demonstrate proficiency through assessment on the modalities that characterize communication in that language at a level comparable to intermediate-mid level proficiency or higher, based on the .

ASD only covers the cost of STAMP 4S, STAMP WS (formerly WorldSpeak), STAMP for ASL, and STAMP for Latin.

For inquiries regarding the ASD's Seal of Biliteracy, please email Sealofbiliteracy@asdk12.org