Amended in Senate August 1, 2016

Amended in Assembly April 27, 2016

Amended in Assembly April 7, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 17, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 2785


Introduced by Assembly Member O'Donnell

February 19, 2016


An act to add Section 56305 to the Education Code, relating to special education.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2785, as amended, O'Donnell. Special education: English learners: manual.

Existing law requires local educational agencies to actively and systematically seek out all individuals with exceptional needs, from birth to 21 years of age, inclusive, including children not enrolled in public school programs, who reside in a school district or are under the jurisdiction of a special education local plan area or a county office of education.

This bill would require the State Department of Education, on or before July 1, 2018, to develop a manual providing guidance to local educational agencies on identifying, assessing,begin delete and supportingend deletebegin insert supporting, and reclassifyingend insert English learners who may qualify for special educationbegin delete services,end deletebegin insert services and pupils with disabilities who may be classified as English learners,end insert as specified, with the goal of providing guidance, for voluntary use by local educational agencies,begin delete includingend delete charter schools,begin insert and the state special schoolsend insert on evidence-based and promising practices for the identification, assessment,begin delete and support of English learners who may have disabilitiesend deletebegin insert support, and reclassification of those pupilsend insert and to promote a collaborative approach among general education teachers, special education teachers, school administrators,begin insert paraprofessionals,end insert otherbegin insert involvedend insert personnel, and parents in determining the most appropriate academic placements and services for these pupils. The bill would require the department to post the manual on its Internet Web site and on its professional development Internet Web site. In developing the manual, the bill would require the department to review manuals and other resources produced on this topic by local educational agencies, special education administrators, other organizations, other states, and the federal government, and to establish and consult with a stakeholder group comprised of specified experts and practitioners. As part of implementing these provisions, the bill would require the department, with input from the stakeholder group, to develop a plan forbegin insert theend insert dissemination of the manual andbegin insert the means ofend insert providing professional developmentbegin delete for staff at schoolsites and administrators of local educational agenciesend delete on the content of the manual, as specified,begin delete andend deletebegin insert but would condition the actual implementation of the plan on an appropriation for that purpose in the annual Budget Act or another enacted statute. The billend insert would require the department to submit the plan to the State Board of Education, the Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, the Advisory Commission on Special Education, and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on or before July 1, 2018. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature that its provisions be funded with federal funds, to the extent permissible.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:

3(a) There are approximately 1.4 million English learners in
4California public schools, representing 22 percent of the state’s
P3    1enrollment. Some of these English learners are also pupils who
2qualify for special education services.

begin insert

3
(b) There are approximately 734,000 pupils with disabilities in
4California public schools, representing 12 percent of the state’s
5enrollment. Some of these pupils with disabilities are also English
6learners.

end insert
begin delete

7(b)

end delete

8begin insert(c)end insert The accurate identification of English learners who qualify
9for special education services,begin insert the classification of pupils with
10disabilities as English learners,end insert
and the determination of
11appropriate services for thesebegin delete pupils,end deletebegin insert pupilsend insert is in the interest of
12pupils, families, educators, local educational agencies, and the
13state.

begin delete

14(c) The identification of English learners who qualify for special
15education services involves

end delete

16begin insert(d)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insertThe identification, assessment, support, reclassification,
17and special education exit of these pupils involveend insert
complex and
18interrelated processes, and educators would benefit from state
19guidance on how best to identify these pupils.

begin delete

20(d)

end delete

21begin insert(e)end insert Educators would also benefit from state guidance about how
22to support the learning needs ofbegin delete English learners who qualify for
23special education services.end delete
begin insert these pupils.end insert

begin delete

24(e)

end delete

25begin insert(f)end insert Other states have provided their educators with such guidance
26through manuals on the topic of English learners and special
27education. The federal government recommends that states develop
28guidance for educators on this topic.

begin delete

29(f)

end delete

30begin insert(g)end insert California, which enrolls one in every three English learners
31in the country, and 35 percent of all English learners who receive
32special education services in the United States, should provide
33such guidance for its educators in the form of a manual and
34professional development on identifying, assessing, begin delete and serving
35English learners who qualify for special education services.end delete

36
begin insert supporting, and reclassifying these pupils.end insert

37

SEC. 2.  

Section 56305 is added to the Education Code, to read:

38

56305.  

(a) On or before July 1, 2018, the department shall
39develop a manual providing guidance to local educational agencies
40on identifying, assessing,begin delete and supportingend deletebegin insert supporting, and
P4    1reclassifyingend insert
English learners who may qualify for special
2educationbegin delete services.end deletebegin insert services and pupils with disabilities who may
3be classified as English learners.end insert

4(b) The goal of the manual shall be to provide guidance, for
5voluntary use by local educational agencies,begin delete includingend delete charter
6schools,begin insert and the state special schools,end insert on evidence-based and
7promising practices for the identification, assessment,begin delete and support
8of English learners who may have disabilitiesend delete
begin insert support, and
9reclassification of these pupilsend insert
and to promote a collaborative
10approach among general education teachers, special education
11teachers, school administrators,begin insert paraprofessionals,end insert otherbegin insert involvedend insert
12 personnel, and parents in determining the most appropriate
13academic placements and services for these pupils.

14(c) In developing the manual, the department shall do both of
15the following:

16(1) Review manuals and other resources produced on this topic
17by local educational agencies, special education administrators,
18other organizations, other states, and the federal government.

19(2) Establish and consult with a stakeholder group comprised
20of experts and practitioners. These individuals shall have expertise
21or experience in either special education, English learner education,
22or in both.

23(d) The manual shall include all of the following topics:

24(1) Guidance for accurately identifying English learners who
25may havebegin delete disabilities,end deletebegin insert disabilities and accurately classifying pupils
26with disabilities as English learners,end insert
including guidance on
27avoidingbegin delete the over-identification and under-identificationend delete
28begin insert overidentification and underidentificationend insert of these pupils for
29special education services and in different disability categories
30and in different grade spans.

31(2) Information on second language acquisition and progress,
32including guidance on distinguishing between language acquisition
33and disabilities.

34(3) Examples of prereferral strategies, early interventions, and
35early intervening strategies specifically addressing the needs of
36English learners, including examples of early interventions for
37pupils in preschool and the primary grades who are acquiring
38foundational language and literacy skills.

39(4) Guidance on referral processes.

P5    1(5) Guidance on the use of assessments, including the use of
2multiple measures as well as assessment accommodations for both
3language and disability, including assessment accommodations in
4primary languages.

5(6) Guidance on the consideration of extrinsic factors, such as
6begin delete visionend deletebegin insert vision, hearing,end insert and health, in the identification of pupils.

7(7) Guidance on the development of individualized education
8programs for English learners, including the composition of
9individualized education program teams.

10(8) Guidance on how to support the language and content
11learning needs of English learners who may have disabilities,
12including how to do so in the least restrictive environment, as
13described in Sectionbegin delete 56040.1.end deletebegin insert 56040.1, and in a manner that
14enables access to the core curriculum.end insert

15(9) Guidance regarding placement or continued placement in
16bilingual programs and on providing services and instruction in
17primary languages.

18(10) Guidance on special education exit and English learner
19reclassification processes for English learners with disabilities.

20(11) Information on the role of culture and acculturation, to the
21extent it is related to the process of identifying English learners
22for special education services.

23(12) Guidance for working with families, including guidance
24on meeting the needs of nonnative English speaking parents,
25guardians, and educational rights holders in special education
26proceedings.

27(13) Examples of any plans or processes used by local
28educational agencies for continuous evaluation and systemic
29begin delete review, including guidance on tracking effectiveness andend deletebegin insert review
30and guidance onend insert
sharing information between special education
31and English learner programs within local educationalbegin delete agencies,end delete
32begin insert agencies for the purpose of tracking effectiveness,end insert to the extent
33permitted under state and federalbegin delete law.end deletebegin insert law regarding the privacy
34of pupil information.end insert

35(14) State and federal law, regulations, and guidance related to
36the rights of English learners and pupils with disabilities.

37(e) All guidance in the manual shall be consistent with state and
38federal law, regulations, and guidance regarding English learners
39and special education.

P6    1(f) The manual shall be written for ease of use by educators.
2The department is encouraged to incorporatebegin delete graphic organizers
3and other helpfulend delete
features such as flowcharts, checklists, sample
4forms, and case examples.

5(g) The department shall post the manual on its Internet Web
6site and on its professional development Internet Web site.

7(h) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the
8following meanings:

9(1) “English learners” includes pupils who have been classified
10as English learners and those who may later be classified as English
11learners.

12(2) “Pupils with disabilities” includes pupils who have been or
13maybegin insert laterend insert be identified as individuals with exceptional needs, as
14defined in Section 56026, including pupils who have been or may
15begin insert laterend insert be identified as having a low incidence disability, as defined
16in Section 56026.5, or a severe disability, as defined in Section
17
begin delete 56030.5.end deletebegin insert 56030.5, and also includes pupils with disabilities who
18may be later classified as English learners.end insert

19(i) (1) begin insert(A)end insertbegin insertend insert In implementing this section, the department, with
20input from the stakeholder group, shall develop a plan forbegin insert theend insert
21 dissemination of the manual andbegin insert the means ofend insert providing
22professional developmentbegin delete for staff at schoolsites and administrators
23of local educational agenciesend delete
on the content of the manual. The
24plan shall address how the state and local educational agencies
25can collaborate in meeting both of thesebegin delete objectives.end deletebegin insert objectives in
26a cost-effective manner.end insert

begin insert

27
(B) Implementation of the plan developed pursuant to
28subparagraph (A) shall be contingent upon an appropriation for
29that purpose in the annual Budget Act or another enacted statute.

end insert

30(2) The plan shall be submitted to the state board, the
31Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the
32California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, the Advisory
33Commission on Special Education, and the appropriate policy and
34fiscal committees of the Legislature on or before July 1, 2018.

35(j) It is the intent of the Legislature that this section be funded
36with federal funds, to the extent permissible.



O

    95