Advocacy in MASSACHUSETTS

LEGISLATION

An Act Relative to the Training, Assessment, and Assignment of Qualified School Interpreters in Educational Settings (H.437; Rep. Cabral/S.253; Sen. Crighton)

Creates standards and competencies for the training, hiring, and use of interpreters in educational settings in order to provide limited English proficient (LEP) parents and students with competent interpretation services, as required by federal and state law.

An Act Relative to Educator Diversity (H.549/S.311)

Creates robust pathways for diverse professionals and educators to enter the teaching profession and is sponsored by Joint Education Committee Chair, Senator Jason Lewis and Representative Alice Peisch. Latinos for Education and the Massachusetts Education Diversity Coalition are advocating for transforming this educator pipeline.

An Act to Promote High-Quality Comprehensive Literacy Instruction in all Massachusetts Schools (H.579/S.263)

An Act Relative to Bilingual Educators and Dual Language Certification Incentives (H.3947)

The bill supports multiple financial incentives to increase the number of qualified bilingual educators leading to improved student performance, such as funding capacity of districts and IHEs to ensure highly qualified educators.

MABE's Written Testimony Submitted September 2023 - MABE enthusiastically supports this bill!

ADVISORY BOARDS

MABE Board members are representatives on the following education advisory councils:

INITIATIVES

Bilingualism is a gift! An initiative by the Watertown Public School encouraging families to use their home language everyday (poster to the right).
¡Vive Bilingüe! a campaign by Worcester State University's Latino Education Institute (posters at end of page).

TEACHING LICENSES

MASSACHUSETTS Bilingual Education Endorsement (BEE)

Subject Matter Knowledge Requirements and Indicators (Fall 2023) aligned with National Dual Language Education Teacher Preparation Standards (NDLETPS) Standard (EMMA Standards)
MA Bilingual Education Endorsement FAQ, generated from a presentation at the Dual Language Leadership Network, April 2019
MA DESE MEMO Oct 2019 Updates to 4 alternative pathways to Bilingual Education Endorsement

COALITIONS, PARTNERSHIPS, & WORKING GROUPS

Language Opportunity Coalition (LOC)
Coalition for Equity, Diversity, and Disability (CEDD)
DLE School Accountability Working Group
Portuguese Language Partnership for Education
Citizens for Public Schools

In June 2022, MAbE and other speakers, presented at their series "Race & Education: Latinx Students" (recording and slideshow).

Massachusetts Education Equity Partnership (MEEP)

MEEP published a report in September 2022 "There Is No Excellence without Equity: A Path Forward for Education in Massachusetts," which offers recommendations with key priorities and concrete actions for how state leaders can advance educational equity for all students.
MEEP released a report in September 2018 titled "Number One for Some, Opportunity and Achievement in Massachusetts," which gathers and highlights critical disparities facing Black, Latino, and low-income students who continue to have a dramatically different experience in Massachusetts’ schools than their White and higher-income peers.

SEAL OF BILITERACY

Language Opportunity Coalition Biliteracy Pathway Awards

An award program overseen by the Massachusetts Language Opportunity Coalition (LOC) that can be awarded in addition to the official MA State Seal of Biliteracy.

The LOC created a Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL) Workgroup, a strong, enduring collaboration of world language (MaFLA), dual language (MABE), and English language learning (MATSOL) professional teacher organizations and conducted a pilot over three years (2015-2018) before passing legislation to develop a multi-tiered award structure for the SoBL and parameters for implementation in districts in the state. The pilot involved the cooperation and input of leaders and teachers of all language learning program types and levels; world language, dual language education, transitional bilingual education, immersion, English language education, elementary, middle, high school, and university.

The LOC Biliteracy Pathway Awards are designed for students and schools who do not meet the state criteria such as:

School districts that want to award FUNCTIONAL biliteracy at the Intermediate–Mid level of proficiency
School districts that want to award emerging bilingualism and biliteracy for students at the Novice level of proficiency in elementary school OR for students with disabilities
Independent schools whose students do not take MCAS

Seal of Biliteracy Pilot

The chapter - A Collaborative Model for Seal of Biliteracy Implementation: The Massachusetts Pilot Project, written by the LOC Co-Leaders Nicole L Sherf, Phyllis R. Hardy, and Helen Solorzano can be found in the text The Seal of Biliteracy, Case Studies and Considerations for Policy Implementation, Edited by: Amy J. Heineke, Loyola University Chicago and Kristin J. Davin, University of North Carolina at Charlotte.