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Seal of Biliteracy

Illinois Seal of Biliteracy Information

West Chicago Community High School offers juniors and seniors the opportunity to obtain the Seal of Biliteracy.  The Seal of Biliteracy is an award sponsored by the Illinois State Board of Education and is given by a school to students who have attained proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation.

Benefits of the Seal of Biliteracy:

Students who obtain the Seal of Biliteracy will have that achievement indicated on their transcripts.  These students will have opportunities to receive college credit since new legislation has required each Illinois public community college and university to accept the Illinois Seal of Biliteracy as equivalent to 2 years of foreign language coursework and award foreign language course credit based upon their established criteria.  See this document for specific criteria:  Popular IL Colleges & Universities, and this PDF is provided through ISBE which provides additional colleges/universities.  


Steps to obtain Seal of Biliteracy:

  1. Complete this form.  Due date for submission of the letter will be communicated via student announcements each year. 
  2. Demonstrate English proficiency in one of two ways.
    • For English native speakers:  Score a 480 on the benchmark in the evidence-based reading and writing section on the state administered SAT exam.   OR
    • For English as a Second Language Learner:  Score a 4.8 or higher overall composite on the state administered ACCESS exam.  This test is for ELL students only.
  3. Demonstrate second language proficiency in one of two ways
    • Take the Advanced Placement (AP) Language and Culture exam for the specific language (i.e. Spanish, French, etc.) and score at least a 4 on the exam.  Please note that many colleges and universities already grant credit and placement for scores of 3, 4 or 5, however, each college decides which scores it will accept.   OR
    • Take the Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages (AAPPL) and score at least a 5 in the intermediate range.

Costs:

  • AAPPL = $20 (student pays for cost) Pay here--Click OPTIONAL FEES
  • AP = $98 per individual language assessed (student pays for cost)
  • SAT = There is no cost for participation in the state required SAT assessment in the Spring. However, students who wish to retake the test may do so at their own expense.
  • ACCESS = There is no cost for participation in the state required ACCESS assessment in the Spring. Students may not retake this assessment.

PREPARING FOR THE AAPPL TEST: