Amy J. Heineke and Kristin J. Davin, "Pathways to the Seal of Biliteracy: Promoting Multilingualism in Elementary and Middle Schools" (Georgetown UP, 2026)
About this episode
The episode discusses the importance of the Seal of Biliteracy in promoting multilingualism in schools and provides insights from the authors on implementing effective pathway programs.
A roadmap for enhancing students' equitable access to biliteracy development Monolingual ideologies have driven US educational policy for centuries. Despite the benefits of multilingualism, policies have often prioritized English and reduced children's access to their home languages. The "Seal of Biliteracy" is a language education policy that recognizes students' proficiency in two languages as a mechanism for nurturing students' bilingualism and growing the United States' multilingual capacity. Since its inception, the Seal of Biliteracy has become a national program that has been extended into elementary and middle schools as pathway awards—benchmarks signaling that younger students are on the pathway to receiving the Seal of Biliteracy. Pathways to the Seal of Biliteracy provides foundational understandings, practical examples, and key levers necessary to help parents, educators, and policymakers understand and implement pathways to biliteracy in schools. In Pathways to the Seal of Biliteracy: Promoting Multilingualism in Elementary and Middle Schools (Georgetown UP, 2026), ituating the program within broader bilingual, heritage, and world language education systems, Amy J…
Topics covered
- biliteracy
- multilingualism
- education policy
- elementary education
- middle school education
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