Seal of Biliteracy
Information in English
Information in English![]()
Information in English
SEAL OF BILITERACY GENERAL INFORMATION
The Seal of Biliteracy is an award that a student can earn upon High School graduation by showing proficiency in both English and another language. This award is included in their official transcripts and can be worth College credit towards studying a world language. If a student does not qualify for the full SEAL of Biliteracy, they can still qualify for the Commendation.There are several tests they can take that will qualify them for the Seal of Biliteracy or the Commendation of Biliteracy. The tests are generally given in the spring. See the document listed under Seal of Biliteracy Requirements for a complete list of ways to qualify for the Seal or Commendation of Biliteracy.
If you are interested in the timelines for applying and what you need to do to qualify, please contact the World Language Department at your school.
SEAL OF BILITERACY REQUIREMENTS
The Seal of Biliteracy is an award designated on the student’s diploma and transcript given by the State of Illinois in recognition of attaining proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation. Biliteracy is defined as having high levels of proficiency in the four domains of listening, speaking, reading and writing in English and another language. The Commendation toward Biliteracy is awarded to students who demonstrate progress toward biliteracy, but do not fully meet the requirements of the Seal of Biliteracy.
The benefits of earning the Seal of Biliteracy include:
- Providing the cognitive and academic benefits of multilingualism
- Increasing employment opportunities in local and global job markets
- Strengthening intergroup relationships and honoring the cultures and languages of a community
In addition:
- By law, each public university in this State shall accept the State Seal of Biliteracy as equivalent to 2 years of foreign language coursework taken during high school; and
- The community college or university shall award foreign language course credit to a student who has received a State Seal of Biliteracy if requested within three academic years after graduating from high school. (105 ILCS 5/2-3.159)
Testing for the Seal of Biliteracy
All students must demonstrate proficiency in both English and another language through state-approved, standardized assessments and courses listed in the charts below. Testing for the Seal of Biliteracy is limited to Juniors and Seniors, or students enrolled in an Honors or AP language class. Other students may be considered on a case-by-case basis. The award is not given until graduation although the requirements may have been satisfied earlier. If a student leaves the district before graduation, the student will not receive a Seal from Oswego CUSD 308, but the student can request that any qualifying scores be shared with their current district.
Cost
The cost to complete the testing process toward the Seal of Biliteracy will be the actual cost of the Advanced Placement (AP) exam, the ACTFL Assessment - AAPPL test (Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages) or the STAMP™ test (Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency).
Languages and Test Options
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Method to demonstrate
Proficiency in ENGLISH
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Minimum required to receive the SEAL of Biliteracy
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Minimum required to receive the COMMENDATION
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ACCESS for ELLs®
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4.8 overall
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3.5 literacy
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AAPPL – English
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Intermediate High I-5 (form B)
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Intermediate Low I-1
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AP English Language and Composition Exam
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5
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4
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SAT
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Score of 480–Meets Standards in English Language Arts
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ACT
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18 in English or composite of 21
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English language arts dual credit course
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Final GPA of 3.0
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Final GPA of 2.5
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(If your language is not shown below, please ask regarding the ability to test in that language since there are occasional updates.)
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Method to demonstrate listening, speaking, reading and writing Proficiency in a Foreign Language
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Minimum required to receive the SEAL of Biliteracy
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Minimum required to receive the COMMENDATION
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AP Language and Culture Exam -
Spanish French German Chinese
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4
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3
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AAPPL Measure –
Arabic, ASL, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish
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Intermediate High I-5 (form B)
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Intermediate Low I-1
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STAMP™ Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency -
Arabic (modern standard), Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian
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Intermediate High
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Intermediate Low
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STAMP™ Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency for ASL
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6
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4
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STAMP™ Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency 4S
Amharic, Armenian, Bengali, Cabo Verdean, Chaldean (Speaking only), Chin (Hakha), Chuukese, Czech, Filipino (Tagalog), Greek, Haitian Creole, Hawaiian (‘Ōlelo Hawai’i), Hmong, llocano, Kannada, Khmer, Marathi, Marshallese, Nepali, Pashto, Persian-Farsi, Punjabi, Samoan, Somali Maay Maay, Somali Mazaa, Swahili, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Tigrinya, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Yoruba, Yup’ik, Zomi
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6
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4
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Avant Superlanguage Test
Abkhazian*, Afaan Oromo, Albanian, Arabic (Algerian, Arab Gulf, Egyptian, Iraqi, Jordanian, Lebanese, Libyan, Moroccan, Palestinian, Sudanese, Syrian, Tunisian, Yemeni)
Bambara/Bamanakan, Bikol, Bosnian, Burmese, Cantonese, Catalan, Cebuano, Chăm, CHamoru (Chamorro), Danish, Dari, Dinka, Dyula, Estonian, Ewe, Fiji Hindi, Fijian, Fulani, Georgian, Gujarati, Hausa, Hawaiʻi Creole, Herero (Otjiherero), Hungarian, Icelandic, Igbo, Ilonggo (Hiligaynon), Indonesian, Jamaican Patwah, Jingpho (Kachin)*, K’iche’, Kankanaey, Kapampangan (Pampango), Karen*, Kikuyu, Kinyarwanda (Kinyamulenge), Kirundi, Kosraean, Krio, Kunama, Lao, Latvian, Lingala, Lisan ud-Dawat, Lithuanian, Luganda (Ganda), Malay, Malayalam, Mandinka (Mandingo), Mixtec, Mongolian, Mortlockese, Norwegian – Bokmal, Norwegian – Nynorsk, Nuer, Nyanja (Chichewa), Odia (Oriya), Palauan (Palall), Pangasinan, Pohnpeian, Q’anjob’al, Romanian, Saho, Sanskrit, Shona, Sinhala (Sinhalese), Soninke, Swazi (siSwati), Swedish, Sylheti, Tatar, Tibetan (Bod-skad), Tok Pisin, Tongan, Twi, Uzbek, Visayan (Bisaya), Waray-Waray, Wolof, Yapese, Zigula
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6
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4
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ALTA Test for the Seal of Biliteracy
Afrikaans, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic dialects: (Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Morocco, Sudan), Armenian Eastern, Azerbajani (Azeri), Baluchi (Western) , Bambara, Bangla (Bengali) , Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Cambodian,Cantonese, Cape Verdean Barlavento, Cape Verdean Sotavento, Chuukese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dari, Dutch, Ewe, Fante (Akan) , Farsi, Finnish, French Canadian, Fulani, Ga, Georgian, Greek, Gujarati, Haitian Creole, Hausa, Hindi, Hmong, Hungarian, Igbo, Ilocano, Indonesian, Jamaican Patois, Kannada, Kazakh, Kinyarwanda, Kurdish Kurmanji, Kurdish Sorani, Lao, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malay, Malayalam, Mongolian, Nepali, Norwegian, Oromo, Pashto, Punjabi (Eastern) , Punjabi (Western), Romanian, Samoan, Serbian, Serbo-Croatian, Sinhala, Slovak, Somali, Sorani, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Taiwanese, Tajik, Tamil (India) , Telugu, Thai, Tibetan, Tigrinya, Turkish, Twi (Akan) , Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Wolof, Yoruba
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6 (ALTA scale)
1+ Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR scale)
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5 (ALTA scale)
1 Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR scale)
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COLLEGE CREDIT FOR SEAL OF BILITERACY
College credit for Seal of Biliteracy is currently offered at several in-state colleges and universities*.
| College | Hours |
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8 hours
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Offers credit - hours not specified
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Up to 8 hours
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Up to 12 hours
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Seal equals course LAN 111 or 4 hours if language of Seal is not offered at ISU
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Receive credit for 4 language courses in the Seal language
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8 credits
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12 hours for the Seal, or 6 hours for the Commendation
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4-8 hours (depending on language)
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*Click on the links to get up-to-date information. This is a partial list as of March, 2026. All schools that may offer credit may not be shown here, so please contact the school directly.
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