Seal of Bi-Literacy for Tamil in the State of Maryland

வணக்கம் Maryland Tamil Community!

It’s our pleasure to announce that the Maryland State Board of Education (MSDE) has approved the Seal of Bi-Literacy for the Tamil Language to our Tamil school Maryland Tamil Academy on November 17, 2017. This can benefit our Tamil students who are studying in High School or any other High School students who are studying the Tamil language outside of our Tamil School of approved counties within Maryland state.  The qualified student will receive the Bi-Literacy seal on their diploma at the end of their high school year (12^th grade).

To receive a Maryland Seal of Bi-Literacy in Tamil, a student must:

1. Pass the PARCC in English 10; AND
2. Demonstrate Intermediate High or above proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Tamil, as measured by assessments that are aligned with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL) proficiency guidelines.

The current approval to MTA was to conduct the Reading and Writing assessments by having the Tamil Virtual Academy’s (TVA) Higher Certificate Course Grade 1 (HG10). MTA is a certified TVA examination center and follows the TVA syllabus from Nilai 8 to Nilai 10. The student must pass the HG10 exam from the TVA assessment. The average passing score from TVA is 40 percent and above. The TVA exam for Reading and Writing will be conducted twice a year between the November-December period and the May-June period. Those who would like to apply for the TVA’s HG10 exam can contact our MTA Board at board@marylandtamilacademy.org.

For the Listening and speaking assessments, MTA provides special coaching to undertake the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) in Tamil which can be scheduled from the ACTFL website. The student must demonstrate Intermediate High or above proficiency in listening and speaking Tamil. You can find more information about OPI at https://www.languagetesting.com/oral-proficiency-interview-opi/.  To receive the OPI training and assistance, please contact our MTA Board at board@marylandtamilacademy.org.

Maryland Tamil Academy is the Authorized Exam Center for Tamil Virtual Academy (TVA) in the state of Maryland and also the coordinator for the Seal of Biliteracy for Tamil in the state of Maryland. To learn more about Biliteracy in Tamil and help to schedule the required TVA Exam, please fill in the contact & info FORM here. For more useful info on the Seal of Bi-Literacy in Tamil, you can check out the FAQ page.

The List of MTA Students who have achieved the Seal of Bi-literacy are:

MTA Students get a discount ($20 Web Proctoring Fee) while registering for the OPI Test. Please see the below attachments for details.

Registration Instructions – Ordering a Language Assessment Test – OPI