BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                              Senator Carol Liu, Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

          Bill No:               AB 1369            
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          |Author:     |Frazier                                              |
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          |Version:    |May 4, 2015                                 Hearing  |
          |            |Date:     July 8, 2015                               |
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          |Urgency:    |No                     |Fiscal:     |Yes            |
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          |Consultant: |Lynn Lorber                                          |
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          Subject:  Special education:  dyslexia

            SUMMARY
          
          This bill expands the description of psychological processes to  
          include "phonological processing," and requires the  
          Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop program  
          guidelines for dyslexia to assist teachers and parents to  
          identify and assess students with dyslexia, and to plan,  
          provide, evaluate and improve educational services for students  
          with dyslexia.

            BACKGROUND
          
          Existing law:

          1)Defines a specific learning disability 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  
            calculations.  
            (United States Code, Title 20, § 1401, and Education Code §  
            56337)


          2)Includes in the definition of a specific learning disability  
            conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury,  
            minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental  
            aphasia.  Existing regulations specify that the basic  
            psychological processes include attention, visual processing,  







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            auditory processing, sensory-motor skills, cognitive abilities  
            (including association), conceptualization and expression.   
            (California Code of Regulations, Title 5, § 3030)


          3)Provides 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.  (EC § 56337.5)


          4)Provides 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  
            student's instructional program is to be provided in the  
            regular education program.  (EC § 56337.5)


          5)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.  (EC §  
            44227.7)


          6)Encourages the inclusion of a component on the recognition of,  
            and teaching strategies for, specific learning disabilities,  
            including dyslexia and related disorders, in local in-service  
            training programs for regular education teachers and special  
            education teachers in local educational agencies.  (EC §  
            56245)


          7)Requires, in an uncodified section, the Superintendent of  
            Public Instruction to develop program guidelines for specific  
            learning disabilities, including dyslexia and related  
            disorders, for use by regular and special educators and  
            parents to assist them in identifying, assessing, planning,  
            providing, evaluating, and improving educational services to  
            students.  (AB 3040, Speier, Ch. 1501, 1990)


          8)States Legislative intent that the program guidelines for  
            specific learning disabilities, including dyslexia and other  








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            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.  (EC §  
            56337.5)


            ANALYSIS
          
          This bill expands the description of psychological processes to  
          include "phonological processing," and requires the  
          Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to develop program  
          guidelines for dyslexia to assist teachers and parents to  
          identify and assess students with dyslexia, and to plan,  
          provide, evaluate and improve educational services for students  
          with dyslexia.  Specifically, this bill:

          1)Requires the State Board of Education to include "phonological  
            processing" in the description of basic psychological  
            processes in regulations.  


          2)Requires the SPI to develop program guidelines for dyslexia to  
            be used to assist regular education teachers, special  
            education teachers, and parents to identify and assess  
            students with dyslexia, and to plan, provide, evaluate, and  
            improve educational services to students with dyslexia.  


          3)Defines "educational services" as an evidence-based,  
            multisensory, direct, explicit, structured, and sequential  
            approach to instructing students who have dyslexia.  


          4)Requires the program guidelines to:


             a)   Include characteristics typical of students 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.










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             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 students with dyslexia.


             c)   Be completed in time for use by the beginning of the  
               2017-18 academic year.


          5)Requires the SPI to disseminate the program guidelines through  
            the California Department of Education's website 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.


          STAFF COMMENTS

       1)Need for the bill.  According to the author, "Currently the law  
            states that a child qualifies for special education services  
            if they have an auditory or visual processing disorder.   
            However, many students are missed and not qualified for  
            services because dyslexia is a phonological processing  
            disorder.  California code 'encourages' districts to use an  
            appropriate program for a student with dyslexia or suspected  
            of having dyslexia.  However, districts have failed to put the  
            encouragement into action.  For children with dyslexia to be  
            successful students and citizens that they are capable of  
            becoming, schools have the responsibility to use the  
            intervention that science has showed time and time again is  
            effective."

       2)Phonological processing.  Existing regulations specify that the  
            basic psychological processes include attention, visual  
            processing, auditory processing, sensory-motor skills,  
            cognitive abilities (including association), conceptualization  
            and expression.  This bill requires the State Board of  
            Education to include "phonological processing" in the  
            description of basic psychological processes in regulations.   
            Phonological processing is related to the ability to recognize  
            and understand (process) units of words, and is distinct from  
            visual or auditory processing.  It appears expanding  








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            regulations to include phonological processing could result in  
            the use of additional measures and areas of consideration when  
            assessing a student who is suspected of having dyslexia or  
            other specific learning disabilities.  This bill may result in  
            the provision of support for students who are not currently  
            identified as being eligible for special education, thereby  
            expanding eligibility for special education and related  
            services.  

       3)Program guidelines.  Legislation passed in 1990 required the  
            Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to develop program  
            guidelines for specific learning disabilities, including  
            dyslexia and related disorders, for use by regular and special  
            educators and parents to assist them in identifying,  
            assessing, planning, providing, evaluating, and improving  
            educational services to students.  Those program guidelines  
            where developed but are no longer readily available and are  
            certainly outdated.  This bill requires the SPI to once again  
            develop program guidelines, which are not mandatory for local  
            educational agencies (LEA) to follow.

       4)Fiscal impact.  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
            Committee, this bill would impose:

          a)   One-time General Fund (GF) administrative costs to the  
               California Department of Education of approximately  
               $170,000 and ongoing GF costs of approximately $110,000.   
               This includes staff support to the State Board of Education  
               for regulatory reform, and the development and  
               dissemination of guidelines. 

          b)   Potential Proposition 98/GF reimbursable state mandated  
               costs to LEA 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 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. 

            SUPPORT








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          California Lieutenant Governor, Gavin Newsom
          California State PTA
          Charles Armstrong School
          Children's Health Council
          Children's Health Council, Sand Hill School
          Children's Health Council, The Center, Evaluation, Therapy,  
          Learning
          Decoding Dyslexia California
          Dyslexia Training Institute
          Headstrong Nation 
          International Dyslexia Association, So CA Tri-Counties Branch 
          Learn 2 Read, Orange County
          Literate Nation California Coalition
          Parental Advocacy for Children in Exceptional Situations
          State Council on Developmental Disabilities
          The International Dyslexia Association, Northern California  
          Branch
          University of California San Francisco
          Numerous individuals

            OPPOSITION
           
           Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) Administrators of  
          California

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