BILL NUMBER: AB 1369	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  647
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  OCTOBER 8, 2015
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  OCTOBER 8, 2015
	PASSED THE SENATE  SEPTEMBER 3, 2015
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  JUNE 1, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 4, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 14, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Frazier
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Gonzalez, Mullin, and Williams)

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to add Sections 56334 and 56335 to the Education Code,
relating to special education.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1369, Frazier. Special education: dyslexia.
   (1) Existing law requires all children with disabilities residing
in the state, regardless of the severity of their disabilities, and
who are in need of special education and related services, to be
identified, located, and assessed. Existing law provides that a pupil
who is assessed as being dyslexic and meets certain eligibility
criteria for the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
category of specific learning disabilities is entitled to special
education and related services. Existing law defines a "specific
learning disability" as a disorder in one or more of the basic
psychological processes involved in understanding or in using
language, and includes in that definition dyslexia and other
specified conditions.
   This bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction
to develop, and to complete in time for use no later than the
beginning of the 2017-18 academic year, program guidelines for
dyslexia to be used to assist regular education teachers, special
education teachers, and parents to identify and assess pupils with
dyslexia, and to plan, provide, evaluate, and improve educational
services, as defined, to pupils with dyslexia. The bill would require
the Superintendent to disseminate the program guidelines through the
State Department of Education's Internet Web site and to provide
technical assistance regarding their use and implementation to
specified persons.
   (2) Existing regulations adopted by the State Board of Education
include specific basic psychological processes in the definition of
"specific learning disability."
   This bill would require the state board to include "phonological
processing" in that description of basic psychological processes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 56334 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   56334.  The state board shall include "phonological processing" in
the description of basic psychological processes in Section 3030 of
Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations.
  SEC. 2.  Section 56335 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   56335.  (a) The Superintendent shall develop program guidelines
for dyslexia to be used to assist regular education teachers, special
education teachers, and parents to identify and assess pupils with
dyslexia, and to plan, provide, evaluate, and improve educational
services to pupils with dyslexia. For purposes of this section,
"educational services" means an evidence-based, multisensory, direct,
explicit, structured, and sequential approach to instructing pupils
who have dyslexia.
   (b) The program guidelines shall include, but shall not be limited
to, characteristics typical of pupils with dyslexia and strategies
for their remediation, as well as information to assist educators in
distinguishing between characteristics of dyslexia and
characteristics of normal growth and development.
   (c) In developing program guidelines pursuant to subdivision (a),
the Superintendent shall consult with teachers, school
administrators, other educational professionals, medical
professionals, parents, and other professionals involved in the
identification and education of pupils with dyslexia.
   (d) The Superintendent shall complete the program guidelines in
time for use no later than the beginning of the 2017-18 academic
year.
   (e) The Superintendent shall disseminate the program guidelines
through the department's Internet Web site and provide technical
assistance regarding their use and implementation to parents,
teachers, school administrators, and faculty members in teacher
training programs of institutions of higher education.