San Jose State University critical bilingual authorization 2023 graduates with faculty members, Eduardo R. Muñoz-Muñoz and Ana Ramírez.

California bilingual teacher preparation programs are in their first academic year of implementing the revised Bilingual Authorization Program Standards and new Bilingual Teaching Performance Expectations (BTPEs).

The updated standards and BTPEs are based on work completed by an expert panel of education professionals and adopted by the Commission in 2021. They support the goals of the California Department of Education’s Global California 2030 plan to significantly increase the number of dual language immersion programs, enable half of all K-12 students to gain proficiency in two or more languages, and increase the yearly number of bilingual teacher authorizations.

At the Connie L. Lurie College of Education at San José State University, the transition to the new BTPEs is a shared professional community effort thanks to resources in place to support bilingual education, according to Eduardo R. Muñoz-Muñoz, an associate professor and coordinator of the Bilingual Authorization Program who served on the bilingual authorization panel.

“As a team, we undertook the task of adapting to the new bilingual framework as an opportunity to reinvigorate our bilingual praxis, which we are (and I mean we really in the plural) passionate about,” Muñoz-Muñoz said.

“The high aspirations of California 2030 are matched with these requirements that raise the standard of language pedagogy soundness and cultural relevance, connecting our programs and candidates with recent trends in bilingual education such as translanguaging or the transnational reality of our emergent bilinguals, to name two examples.”

In addition to the updated six BTPEs, there is a new requirement that bilingual authorization candidates complete at least 20 hours of field experience, that according to Muñoz- Muñoz, is a “necessary piece of bilingual teacher professionalization, just as we want all professionals to show abilities in the real world beyond theoretical textbook knowledge.”

According to the California Department of Education, there were about 1 million English learners in California public schools in 2021-22. These students require teachers with the specialized knowledge and skills to support English language acquisition as well as access to academic content across the curriculum.

“The field experience provides candidates with flexibility and opportunities to experience teaching in different language immersion settings at different grade levels while concurrently working on their teaching credential(s) or adding a bilingual authorization for teachers who already hold a teaching credential,” said Claire Arias-Kassir, English language resource teacher, Compliance for San Diego Unified School District, and bilingual authorization panel member.

“It provides opportunities to collaborate with other educators onsite, administration, and interact with students and their families.”

The Commission has focused a variety of recent activities on addressing and improving preparation for meeting the needs of students who are English learners and on updating the knowledge and skills required of individuals who teach or provide services to these students. For guidance on how to obtain a bilingual authorization, interested educators may visit the Commission’s website.

Updated April 11, 2024