BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1369
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
1369 (Frazier)
As Amended May 4, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Education |7-0 |O'Donnell, Chávez, | |
| | |Kim, McCarty, | |
| | |Santiago, Thurmond, | |
| | |Weber | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, | |
| | |Eggman, Gallagher, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Gordon, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Quirk, | |
| | |Rendon, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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AB 1369
Page 2
SUMMARY: Requires the State Board of Education (SBE) revise
regulations to include "phonological processing" in the
description of basic psychological processes used to identify
students with specific learning disabilities, and requires the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to develop program
guidelines for dyslexia to assist teachers and parents in
providing educational services to students with dyslexia.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the SBE to include "phonological processing" in the
description of basic psychological processes used to identify
students with specific learning disabilities in state
regulations.
2)Requires the SPI to develop program guidelines for 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
students with dyslexia. Defines, for purposes of this act,
"educational services" to mean an evidence-based, multisensory,
direct, explicit, structured, and sequential approach to
instructing students who have dyslexia. Requires the program
guidelines to:
a) Include 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.
b) Be developed in consultation with teachers, school
administrators, other educational professionals, medical
professionals, parents, and other professionals involved in
the identification and education of pupils with dyslexia.
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c) Be completed in time for use no later than the beginning
of the 2017-18 academic year.
1)Requires the SPI to disseminate the program guidelines through
the California Department of Education (CDE) 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.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Encourages institutions of higher education to provide, in
teacher training programs, increased emphasis on the recognition
of, and teaching strategies for, specific learning disabilities,
including dyslexia and related disorders.
2)Encourages the inclusion, in local in-service training programs
for regular education teachers and special education teachers in
local educational agencies, of a component on the recognition
of, and teaching strategies for, specific learning disabilities,
including dyslexia and related disorders.
3)Defines a specific learning disability, as defined in United
States Code Title 20, Section 1401 (30), as "a disorder in one
or more of the basic psychological processes involved in
understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may
manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think,
speak, read, write, spell, or perform mathematical
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calculations."
4)Requires that a student who is assessed as being dyslexic and
meets eligibility criteria for the category of specific learning
disabilities is entitled to special education and related
services.
5)Requires that if a student who exhibits the characteristics of
dyslexia or another related reading dysfunction is not found to
be eligible for special education and related services, the
pupil's instructional program shall be provided in the regular
education program.
6)States the intent of the Legislature that the program guidelines
for specific learning disabilities, including dyslexia and other
related disorders, be available for use by teachers and parents
in order for them to have knowledge of the strategies that can
be utilized with pupils for the remediation of the various types
of specific learning disabilities.
7)Requires, in an uncodified section, the SPI to develop program
guidelines for specific learning disabilities, including
dyslexia and other related disorders, for use by regular and
special educators and parents to assist them in identifying
assessing planning, providing, evaluating, and improving
education services to pupils.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
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1)One-time General Fund (GF) administrative costs to the
California Department of Education (CDE) of approximately
$170,000 and ongoing GF costs of approximately $110,000. This
includes staff support to the SBE for regulatory reform, and the
development and dissemination of guidelines.
2)Potential Proposition 98 (1988)/GF reimbursable state mandated
costs to local education agencies to the extent expanded
services are provided as a result of the revised definition of
psychological processes. This bill requires the California Code
of Regulations (CCR) to be updated to include "phonological
processing" in the description of basic psychological processes.
This definition appears to exceed federal law and could trigger
state mandated costs if services are expanded beyond that which
is authorized under the federal Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA).
COMMENTS:
Definition of specific learning disabilities, including dyslexia.
Federal law establishes 13 disability categories which states use
to determine if students qualify for services. The category of
Specific Learning Disability is defined in federal law as follows
[emphasis added]: "Specific learning disability means a disorder
in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in
understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may
manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak,
read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including
conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal
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brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia."
California law mirrors the federal definition.
How do schools determine if a student has a specific learning
disability, such as dyslexia? Federal law requires several steps
to be taken to determine if a student has a specific learning
disability. When a student is identified as struggling, the
school must first try to meet a student's needs through the
general education program. Schools generally use Student Study
Teams (SSTs) or an approach called Response to Intervention (RtI).
RtI is an instructional approach designed to identify struggling
students and provide interventions explicitly targeted to meet
their needs. If the school finds that these actions do not meet a
student's needs, they refer the student (with parental consent)
for a professional evaluation. The evaluator assesses the student
to determine if the student has a disability and whether that
disability interferes with the student's education. If the
student meets both criteria federal law requires that services be
provided, and a team of stakeholders come together to prepare an
individualized education plan (IEP), which determines the services
which must be provided for that student.
Identification of phonological processing deficits. This bill is
a result of concerns among parents that many students who are
dyslexic are not being identified as such, and as a result are
being deprived of needed educational services.
As described above, federal definitions of disabilities are used
by California in identifying students with special needs.
Dyslexia is one condition listed in the federal (and state)
definition of a specific learning disability. Federal law states
that a specific learning is disability a disorder in a
psychological process. State regulations (5 CCR Section 3030)
specify these psychological processes: "The basic psychological
processes include attention, visual processing, auditory
processing, sensory-motor skills, cognitive abilities including
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association, conceptualization and expression."
This bill would add phonological processing - which proponents say
is a hallmark of dyslexia - to the list of psychological processes
in state regulations. Proponents of this bill argue that, under
current regulations, when school districts review assessment data
for a given student, school personnel look for visual and auditory
processing deficits - but often ignore evidence of phonological
deficits - because visual and auditory deficits are specified in
the above definition. They note that dyslexia is not a visual or
auditory deficit and that not all individuals with dyslexia have
processing deficits.
Improving instruction for dyslexic students. This bill is also a
result of parents' concerns that current instructional methods for
students identified as dyslexic are deficient. They argue that an
effective approach is one which is "evidence-based, multisensory,
direct, explicit, structured, and sequential." If this approach
is indeed effective, the state may have an interest in providing
information on it to school districts and institutions of higher
education so that they may more effectively meet the needs of
dyslexic students and train new teachers, respectively. Current
law AB 3040 (Speier), Chapter 1501, Statutes of 1990, enacted 25
years ago as an uncodified section, requires the CDE to develop
program guidelines which would do the above. Those guidelines are
no longer in use. This bill would revive this requirement and
revise it to reflect current conditions.
Analysis Prepared by:
Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0000720
AB 1369
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