DENVER — Denver Public Schools has more than 35,000 multilingual learners with home languages other than English, with more than 200 languages spoken across the district.
The district believes developing home language skills can help students stay connected with their families, cultures and communities. In 2016, the district started testing for the Seal of Biliteracy, a prestigious honor for students who master multiple languages.
The seal is earned by 11th and 12th graders who pass a web-based test called ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages.
“The goal of this is to have it on their transcript as seniors,” district liaison Wasila Benhallou said. “So it’s the best way for those students to show and talk and speak and listen in their own language.”
Benhallou is a liaison in the district’s Multilingual Education Department, which serves all language learners in DPS.
“They need to go through four topics, which are reading, spelling, writing and listening,” Benhallou said. “You feel more comfortable of expressing of your thoughts and feelings with someone who you know is from the same culture and speaks the same language.”
According to the Colorado Department of Education, a seal of biliteracy is a credential given by a Colorado school or district recognizing students who have studied and attained proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation. A seal of biliteracy encourages students to pursue biliteracy skills that are attractive to future employers and college admissions offices.
This year, DPS will graduate more than 1,000 students with their seal of biliteracy -- the largest class of recipients since the program started.
Hiba Al Mohamad was born in Syria and moved to the United States with her family seven years ago. She’s now a senior at West High School in Denver and said preparing for the test helped her learn about different cultures from other students.
“I think that I learned some about Egypt, even though I’m an Arab, that I didn’t even know before,” Al Mohamad said. “I always like to experience new stuff and I like to challenge myself, so I think that test was kind of like a challenge for me."
Al Mohamad will be graduating in May and speaks Turkish, Arabic and English. She said learning different languages helped her fit in.
“In every other school, I always felt like I was left out,” Al Mohamad said. “This is the school that I felt my culture and me, I [were] welcomed in here.”
The free test takes about two hours, but Al Mohamad believes it’s worth it.
“It’s pretty easy -- just writing, reading and listening,” she said. “I think taking that test, you will prove to yourself and prove to them that you know your languages.”
DPS said biliterate graduates can expect to earn more, have more job opportunities and create connections with their community. For younger children, learning a second language has proven benefits for cognitive development. Benhallou said her goal is to get more students enrolled to earn the seal of biliteracy.
“My hope is to get more students to take the test,” Benhallou said. “To get all those students who have a second language besides English to participate and get the program and do the test and it will be useful in your future life.”
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