The initiative focuses on promoting multilingual education, strengthening language programs, and diversifying the multilingual educator workforce nationwide.
The initiative focuses on promoting multilingual education, strengthening language programs, and diversifying the multilingual educator workforce nationwide.
The Biden-Harris Administration has launched the “Being Bilingual is a Superpower” initiative, led by the United States Department of Education, as part of their broader program, “Raise the Bar: Create Pathways for Global Engagement.”
The initiative focuses on promoting multilingual education, strengthening language programs, and diversifying the multilingual educator workforce nationwide.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona highlighted the initiative’s goal of recognizing multilingualism as a key asset for academic, cognitive, economic, and sociocultural success.
“Make no mistake: multilingualism is a superpower. Knowing more than one language, acquiring a new language through school, or learning new languages later in life can provide tangible academic, cognitive, economic, and sociocultural advantages,” he said in a statement.
“As our nation continues to grow more diverse, and as our global economy becomes more interconnected, we cannot seize our nation’s full potential to compete and lead the world unless we ‘Raise the Bar’ and provide all students with opportunities to become multilingual,” Cardona added.
The initiative, operating under the Department’s Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA), will advocate for research-based bilingual educational opportunities and language instruction from early learning settings onward.
To further the initiative’s goals, the department hosted a national convening in Washington, D.C., where Cardona outlined the department’s vision, and education leaders discussed policies and practices ensuring access to high-quality language programs for all students.
Recent data indicated that only 20 percent of the US population speaks more than one language, prompting urgent action.
Last year, OELA invested nearly US$120 million to support educators of English learner students, with a proposal from Cardona to reorganize Title III programming for better support.
In line with the initiative, the Department has granted $33.2 million to Native Hawaiian organizations through the Native Hawaiian Education program, supporting initiatives such as Hawaiian language-medium instruction, culture-based education programs, mental health initiatives, and school renovation projects.
The department has also awarded nearly $2 million in grants under the Native American and Alaska Native Children in School Program, focusing on enhancing capacity and providing effective instruction and support to Native American students who are English learners.
The aim of the NAM program is to allocate grants to qualified entities for the purpose of developing and strengthening their capacity to deliver effective instruction and support to Native American students identified as English learners.
The program strives to facilitate the teaching, learning, and mastery of Native American languages, concurrently enhancing the English language proficiency of the students.
The ultimate objective is to ensure that these students meet the challenging state academic content and achievement standards on par with their non-English learner counterparts.
Resources for English learner students
Cardona also released a letter providing resources for English learner students, including “Raise the Bar” metrics, data visualizations, the completed English Language Family Toolkit, and a Seal of Biliteracy Infographic, all translated into Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic.
The OELA’s Family Toolkit app will also be available in Arabic, English, Chinese, and Spanish on Android and Apple devices.
