September 3, 2024

CARSON CITY, Nev. – The Nevada Department of Education is working with the Great Basin tribes to ensure that students who demonstrate a high level of proficiency in a Native American language can earn the Nevada State Seal of Biliteracy.

The Nevada Department of Education and tribal leaders held workshops in July at the Nevada Museum of Art to begin the process of developing student assessments to gauge proficiency.

The aim is to ensure that students have a pathway to earn the Seal of Biliteracy in the Paiute, Western Shoshone, and Washoe languages.

An assessment in each of those languages is expected to be available for use by schools and districts by the end of the 2024-2025 school year.

“The languages of the Great Basin tribes are integral to Native culture and traditions,” said Jhone Ebert, Superintendent of Public Instruction. “This expansion represents a step forward in language preservation and the recognition of Native American languages as an educational asset.”

The Seal of Biliteracy was created in 2015 through NRS 388.591.

Graduating high school students can earn the distinction if they demonstrate a high level of proficiency in one or more languages in addition to English.

Thousands of students have earned a Nevada State Seal of Biliteracy in more than 45 languages and this number continues to grow each year.

Four school districts – Washoe, Humboldt, Mineral, and Elko counties – are actively incorporating or working toward implementing Paiute and Western Shoshone language classes into some of their schools.

However, no exams currently exist to recognize the languages of the Great Basin tribes.

To create assessments, the Nevada Department of Education is working with tribal leaders who are the subject matter experts.

During the workshops in July, tribal elders and representatives from seven northern tribes worked in teams to create listening, speaking, reading, and writing components of exams in the Paiute, Western Shoshone, and Washoe languages.

Additional participants functioned as assistants to the tribal elders to create recordings for the listening and speaking components of this exam.

Over nearly two decades, tribes and education leaders have engaged in collaborative efforts to revitalize tribal languages.

NAC 391.233, last revised in 2018, allows fluent speakers from the tribes indigenous to Nevada to become certified and teach in public schools.

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About the Nevada Department of Education

The Nevada Department of Education (NDE) leads and collaborates with Nevada’s 17 school districts and the State Public Charter School Authority to advance educational equity Statewide. With offices in Carson City and Las Vegas, NDE oversees all pre-K-12 education in the State, working to achieve its mission to improve student achievement and educator effectiveness by ensuring opportunities, facilitating learning, and promoting excellence. Under the leadership of the State Board of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, NDE impacts the achievement of nearly half a million children and 30,000 educators. Learn more at https://doe.nv.gov/ and join us on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram.