ERIC Number: EJ1305568
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0017-8055
EISSN: N/A
Critical Language Testing: Factors Influencing Students' Decisions to (Not) Pursue the Seal of Biliteracy
Harvard Educational Review, v91 n2 p179-203 Sum 2021
In this investigation, Kristin J. Davin analyzes current and former emergent bilingual learners' decisions to take or not take a language proficiency assessment in a home language to pursue a Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL). The SoBL is a policy adopted in forty states to counteract English-only ideologies by recognizing students who graduate high school bilingual and biliterate. Considering the power of assessments and the complexity of the decision to take a test of proficiency in one's home language, this study uses the history-in-person framework to understand the factors that shape students' decisions to take, or not take, the "seals test." Davin's findings point toward considerations and changes necessary to SoBL implementation to ensure that the policy meets the needs of the emergent bilingual learners it was intended to benefit.
Descriptors: Language Tests, Decision Making, Bilingualism, Certification, High School Graduates, Second Language Learning, Family Influence, Student Attitudes, Language Proficiency, Language Maintenance, Self Esteem
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Minnesota
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A