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Starting a NYS Seal of Biliteracy Program at Your School

The Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages (OBEWL) of the New York State Education Department (NYSED) presents this next webinar in its 2023 Professional Learning Series:  Starting a NYS Seal of Biliteracy Program at Your School.  This webinar is offered free of charge for world language educators and administrators working and studying in New York State educational institutions.

Original webinar date:  Wednesday, May 10th, 2023, 4:30—5:30 p.m.

Presenter:  Candace Black

Webinar description:  Have you been thinking about exploring the idea of starting a NYS Seal of Biliteracy program at your school?  This program has experienced tremendous growth since it was first offered in 2015-16.  In the current school year, more than 450 NYS high schools offer the Seal to their students.  This session will review what the Seal is, who can earn this distinction, what benefits it brings to students, educators, and schools, as well as what it takes to start a Seal of Biliteracy program for the first time.  A wealth of digital resources, as well as local BOCES contacts, will be provided to support schools interested in starting a Seal program for the upcoming year.  Time will be allotted at the end of the session for questions from participants.  Come and learn about how you can honor your students who have developed the 21st century skill of biliteracy.

Link to webinar flyer

Link to Handouts folder from webinar

Link to recording of webinar

Link to post-assessments

To receive a certificate of completion (including a CTLE certificate), NYS educators must view the recording of the webinar (see link below) in its entirety and then answer at least seven out of ten questions correctly on the post assessment.  If the minimum required score (7 out of 10) is achieved, the educator will receive a certificate via email within an hour.  For the convenience of our World Language educators, there are multiple versions of the post assessment available, should the required score not be achieved on the first attempt.  Educators may take each version of the post assessment once.

Important notes:

  1. Educators may take each version of the post assessment once.  Credit will not be given for taking a single version of the post assessment more than once. 
  2. Credit will not be given for more than one passing score on any of the post assessments for a webinar (listed below) in a single academic year.  
  3. Educators may receive credit for viewing the webinar recording and passing a post assessment once in each academic year and are encouraged to take a different version of the post assessment on a yearly basis to review and test their knowledge of the webinar's content. 
  4. It is the responsibility of the individual educator to keep track of the information on the professional learning they complete each year, including the number of CTLE hours.
  5. Questions about this webinar or the post assessments, should be directed to nyssb@nysed.gov or (518) 473-7505.

Webinar Summary (Coming soon!)

# of attendees: 
# of CTLE certificates issued: 
# of certificates of attendance issued: 
# of organizations represented by attendees:

participants from district schools
participants from charter schools
participants from non-public schools
participants from colleges or universities
participants from BOCES or RBERNs
participant from a government agency

Quotes from Participants of this Webinar 

Workshop presenter: Candace Black has been the World Languages Associate in the Office of Bilingual Education and World Language at the New York State Education Department since 2018.  She graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in French from SUNY Potsdam/l’Université de Paris IV - la Sorbonne and earned both her M.B.A., and M.A.T. from the University of Rochester. A National Board-Certified Teacher since 2005, Candace taught French at a variety of high schools in New York, including serving as the International Baccalaureate Diploma Coordinator. She also taught World Language Methods courses at Nazareth College of Rochester and has taught both undergraduate (SUNY Brockport) and graduate courses (SUNY Empire) in French. Candace has been an active member of NYSAFLT for several decades, including serving as a NYSAFLT officer for four years, culminating in President in 2016 when she was the recipient of the Ferdinand DiBartolo Distinguished NYS Leadership Award. In 2021, she was the recipient of the President’s Award for both NYSAFLT and NYSAWLA and was elected as a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques by the French government.  Candace remains an active member of the NYSAFLT Rochester Regional Planning Committee and has been a frequent presenter of workshops on the standards and the NYS Seal of Biliteracy.  She worked with hundreds of dedicated teachers and administrators and a talented group of experts called the World Language Content Advisory Panel to craft the revised NYS Learning Standards for World Languages, which were adopted by the NYS Board of Regents in March of 2021.  In all her roles, most especially her current one at NYSED, Candace is deeply committed to the professional learning and support of World Language educators and their students.