Todays News

Picking up a new language

New ‘seal of biliteracy’ passes into state law, may benefit local students

By ADAM SODDERS

TIMES-REPUBLICAN

Iowa recently joined over two dozen other states in approving a "seal of biliteracy" recognition on student transcripts, and Marshalltown Schools students look to benefit from the move.

"I am really excited, because we already have so much of this in place," said district Director of Instruction Dr. Lisa Stevenson on the seal. "The possibilities are pretty encouraging for Marshalltown, especially since we have such an advanced dual-language program in place."

She said the Iowa Department of Education must now decide on how schools are to implement the seal, adding Marshalltown will benefit from recognizing students for attaining a standard of biliteracy, or the ability to read and write proficiently in two languages.

Stevenson also said she helped push to get the seal passed in the legislature this year.

"I've been involved, behind the scenes, on a committee working to get that going," she said, adding she offered her thoughts, opinions and experiences to a group lobbying for the legislation. "It's been brought up in years passed and just didn't make it."

With at least 40 different languages spoken at Marshalltown Schools, Stevenson said a seal of biliteracy would benefit students of many backgrounds, and has shown promise in other areas of the country; this is especially true, she said, if such efforts are implemented with younger students.

"That idea is what Chicago Public Schools are doing, building up support in their community for kids to become bilingual, whether it's native English speakers adding another language or kids who speak another language learning English," Stevenson said, adding some of Marshalltown's languages are not as widespread as English and Spanish. "That will be the challenge for us, is how do we get kids to show proficiency in less common languages than Spanish and English, and value those languages?"

Expanding the recognition beyond high school, to middle- or intermediate school-aged students, is one potential goal Stevenson said she has for the seal of biliteracy at the district.

She said it is not yet known exactly when the Department of Education will finalize the seal of biliteracy rules.

"There are a lot of states that are already doing this, so the benefit is they can grow and learn from those states, and look at their models, and decide what they want Iowa's to look like," Stevenson said.

Marshalltown currently offers Spanish and French as foreign languages to high school students, and Stevenson has previously spoken at Marshalltown School Board meetings about efforts to expand second language education in the district.

Additionally, Woodbury Elementary School hosts a full dual-language curriculum in English and Spanish, and efforts continue there to ensure students attain a level of bilingualism.

The new law takes effect in July.

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Contact Adam Sodders at (641) 753-6611 or asodders@timesrepublican.com