New IDRA Policy Brief Charts Path Forward
Texas serves the greatest proportion of emergent bilingual students in the country but falls short of how to support their bilingual potential in college and the workforce. The State Seal of Biliteracy recognizes high school graduates’ bilingual and biliteracy skills. In many states, it indicates bilingual skills for employers and for college credit and language placement.
Today, IDRA released a new policy brief, The Path to a Stronger State Seal of Biliteracy – Advancing Texas Student Success through Bilingualism and Biliteracy. It outlines the benefits of bilingualism and biliteracy and policies that support the state seal of biliteracy and quality bilingual education.
The brief also analyzes how the related Texas performance acknowledgment in bilingualism and biliteracy needs improvement. IDRA presents a set of five recommendations for Texas policymakers:
- Enhance state data collection and reporting about graduates who earn the State Seal of Biliteracy,
- Make the seal inclusive of emergent bilingual students,
- Build better dual language immersion program pathways,
- Align the seal with college credit, and
- Enhance bilingual/ESL program funding and technical support.
People who are bilingual are more likely to earn higher wages. A 2019 survey of U.S. employers found that nine out of 10 needed bilingual employees. And 56% anticipated that need to grow in the next five years.
Texas can take steps to improve the state bilingual recognition to graduate more bilingual students and meet their needs for college advancement and workforce development in high-need areas, such as education, healthcare and business.
For more information about implementing these policy recommendations or accessing model policy language, contact Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D., IDRA Deputy Director of Policy, at chloe.sikes@idra.org. For more information about serving bilingual students, contact Lizdelia Piñón, Ed.D., IDRA Education Associate, at lizdelia.pinon@idra.org.
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