Nationwide, more high school students are graduating as multilingual, mastering more than one language, based on a national report published this month.
Following California’s efforts to recognize English learners who master their home language and English, all 50 states and the District of Columbia now award seals of biliteracy for multilingualism, Education Week reported.
According to the 2024 Seal of Biliteracy national report documenting numbers from the 2022-23 school year, per Education Week:
- Students graduating with the seal grew from 147,937 in the 2021-22 school year to 158,384 in 2022-23.
- The number of languages mastered alongside English grew from 127 to 143.
- The percentage of current or former English learners gaining a seal rose from 38% to 40%.
Samuel Aguirre, a co-author of the report, attributes the increases to more states awarding the seals and more states reporting data on students earning the seals, Education Week reported.
Education Week also said the rise reflects a commitment to recognize English learners and native English speakers who master a second language.
EdSource is California’s largest independent newsroom focused on Education.