Information on Michigan academic standards and instructional resources.
Responsible for providing final decisions in administrative appeals to MDE.
Learn more about the MDE office responsible for providing leadership in curriculum and instruction that provides students with greater choices to prepare for success.
Resources for educator certification, recognition programs, evaluation, and workforce research.
Resources related to financial and pupil accounting and auditing.
Options available for Michigan students that provide unique learning opportunities.
Food & Nutrition Programs
Resources for programs and initiatives that support school improvement efforts.
Michigan has an innovative and comprehensive system of assessments to measure student achievement in learning our state content standards.
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
Search is currently unavailable. Please try again later.
The web Browser you are currently using is unsupported, and some features of this site may not work as intended. Please update to a modern browser such as Chrome, Firefox or Edge to experience all features Michigan.gov has to offer.
The Michigan Seal of Biliteracy (MI-SoBL) has been created to recognize High School graduates who exhibit language proficiency in English and at least one additional world language. The Seal may be awarded to any student receiving a high school diploma, a high school certificate of completion, or a high school equivalency certificate and who has demonstrated Intermediate High Proficiency on acceptable world language assessments. The Seal has been created to encourage students to study world languages and embrace their native and heritage languages. The Seal will provide employers with a way to identify individuals with strong language and biliteracy skills. The Seal may serve as an additional tool for Colleges and Universities to recognize applicants' language abilities for admission and placement.
The MI-SoBL requires students to meet the following criteria:
Michigan joins 36 other States and the District of Columbia in awarding a Seal of Biliteracy (Davin & Heineke, 2017). In Michigan's journey to becoming a top ten performing State, awarding the Seal of Biliteracy aligns to the goals and strategies of this endeavor. The MI-SoBL Policy was developed with each of the eight goals in mind. Reference to the goals can be found in the Purpose and Rationale section of the Policy.
Globalization is a relatively new term, although the concept is thousands of years in the making (Stone, 2005).
Customers in 207 Countries buy Michigan-made goods and services, and foreign-owned companies employ over 200,000 workers in Michigan (Business Roundtable, 2015). Although English is widely used in international trade, the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately with colleagues and trade partners who speak other languages is crucial for Michigan's competitiveness and economic growth. The MI-SoBL fully aligns with the goal of global competitiveness.
In a recent survey of U.S. employers, 66% reported valuing foreign language skills in the hiring process and 41% reported giving preference to multilingual job candidates (Damari et al., 2017). In Michigan, international trade-related jobs grew 17% from 2004-2014 while total employment declined 1% (Business Roundtable, 2015). There is also a growing need for bilingual employees across a wide range of occupations, regardless of educational requirements or salary (New American Economy, 2017). The MI-SoBL serves as an endorsement to employers that a High School graduate enters the workforce with highly desired skills in more than one language.
The Michigan Department of Education recommends that a student's proficiency be tested for the purpose of awarding the Seal beginning the second semester of their junior year through the end of the first semester of their senior year. Note that students tested in their senior year may not receive test results until the summer of their graduating year. As a result, the Seal will be awarded retroactively following graduation.
The following documents are available for schools/districts to download and print for use at meetings or in schools:
