A recent brief published by Californians Together details the expansion of the State Seal of Biliteracy (SSB) over the past 15 years and offers state and local recommendations to help further boost access for students — particularly those classified as English learners (EL) and reclassified fluent English proficient (RFEP).
State leaders set a goal, established in Global California 2030, for more than 165,000 students to earn the SSB by 2029–30.
“California is currently not on track to meet the Global 2030 goal despite an increase in districts awarding the SSB in recent years. Achieving the target would require increasing the number of recipients by more than 90,000 students over the next five years, an average annual increase of 17,818 students,” the brief states. “The 2030 goal is attainable if California fully leverages both the opportunity within its student population and the momentum created by recent legislation. For example, in 2024–25, SSB recipients represented just 14 percent of four-year cohort graduates, meaning more than 400,000 graduates did not earn the seal. At the same time, 45 percent of high school students come from households where a language other than English is spoken at home, [including EL, RFEP, and Initially-Fluent English Proficient (IFEP) students], underscoring the significant untapped potential to expand access and attainment.”
Significant progress has been made in the two years since Assembly Bill 370 was signed into law, according to the brief. The bill, which took effect during the 2023–24 school year, changed the criteria to earn an SSB by requiring the student to both demonstrate proficiency in English by meeting one of four specified requirements and demonstrate proficiency in one or more languages other than English by meeting one of three specified requirements. Additionally, AB 370 required EL students to achieve an Oral Language composite score of level 4 on the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California, rather than attain a level demonstrating English language proficiency on those assessments.
Since 2014, there has been steady growth in the number of local educational agencies awarding the seal. In 2025, 1,329 schools across 515 districts awarded at least one SSB — an increase of 217 schools and 175 districts since 2020. Over the past four years, current and former EL students have consistently comprised between 40-50 percent of all SSB awardees. The 2024–25 school year saw the greatest number of these students attain the SSB, representing an increase of nearly 6,000 students from three years prior.
“As we celebrate this growth, continued expansion remains critical so that more students have the opportunity to demonstrate their multilingual proficiency, and for the state to recognize their achievements,” the brief states. “Ensuring that all eligible districts offer the SSB is an important step toward this goal. Our analysis suggests most districts in the state are on the path to doing so: nearly nine in 10 unified and high school districts awarded the SSB during the 2024–25 school year. However, there are approximately 43 unified or high school districts that did not award the SSB during the 2024–25 school year, leaving approximately 7,000 12th grade students without access to this recognition.”
Expanding access
Potential strategies to expand and strengthen access to the SSB and rigorous coursework offered in the brief include:
- Building intentional pathways at the local level by aligning middle and high school course sequences to ensure current and former ELs can complete SSB requirements on time; initiating and expanding bilingual programs, such as dual language immersion and developmental bilingual programs; offering rigorous course content in the languages spoken by EL and RFEP students to develop academic proficiency in home languages; and embedding SSB planning into master scheduling processes to ensure students can enroll in required courses.
- Centering EL access in counseling and assessment at the local level by ensuring all academic counselors understand and communicate the criteria for receiving the SSB; providing early and ongoing counseling to RFEP students and current ELs about the SSB and its requirements and acknowledging that their EL status does not exclude them from SSB eligibility; and embedding SSB planning works alongside student reclassification requirements during the development of master scheduling processes.
- Utilizing SSB data for targeted supports at the state level by tracking eligibility and participation alongside completion and attainment data; using data trends to inform investments in bilingual coursework and professional development; and disaggregating data further by EL status and typology (e.g. IFEP, long-term English learners, newcomer students) to identify gaps in access.
