BILL NUMBER: AB 2785 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 1, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 27, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 7, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 17, 2016
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, and
supporting supporting, and reclassifying English
learners who may qualify for special education services,
services and pupils with disabilities who may be
classified as English learners, as specified, with the goal of
providing guidance, for voluntary use by local educational agencies,
including charter schools, and the state
special schools on evidence-based and promising practices for
the identification, assessment, and support of English
learners who may have disabilities support, and
reclassification of those pupils and to promote a collaborative
approach among general education teachers, special education
teachers, school administrators, paraprofessionals, other
involved 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 for the dissemination
of the manual and the means of providing
professional development for staff at schoolsites and
administrators of local educational agencies on the content
of the manual, as specified, and 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 bill 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:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) There are approximately 1.4 million English learners in
California public schools, representing 22 percent of the state's
enrollment. Some of these English learners are also pupils who
qualify for special education services.
(b) There are approximately 734,000 pupils with disabilities in
California public schools, representing 12 percent of the state's
enrollment. Some of these pupils with disabilities are also English
learners.
(b)
(c) The accurate identification of English learners who
qualify for special education services, the classification of
pupils with di sabilities as English learners, and
the determination of appropriate services for these pupils,
pupils is in the interest of pupils, families,
educators, local educational agencies, and the state.
(c) The identification of English learners who qualify for special
education services involves
(d) The identification, assessment,
support, reclassification, and special education exit of these pupils
involve complex and interrelated processes, and educators
would benefit from state guidance on how best to identify these
pupils.
(d)
(e) Educators would also benefit from state guidance
about how to support the learning needs of English learners
who qualify for special education services. these
pupils.
(e)
(f) Other states have provided their educators with
such guidance through manuals on the topic of English learners and
special education. The federal government recommends that states
develop guidance for educators on this topic.
(f)
(g) California, which enrolls one in every three
English learners in the country, and 35 percent of all English
learners who receive special education services in the United States,
should provide such guidance for its educators in the form of a
manual and professional development on identifying, assessing,
and serving English learners who qualify for special
education services. supporting, and reclassifying
these pupils.
SEC. 2. Section 56305 is added to the Education Code, to read:
56305. (a) On or before July 1, 2018, the department shall
develop a manual providing guidance to local educational agencies on
identifying, assessing, and supporting
supporting, and reclassifying English learners who may qualify
for special education services. services and
pupils with disabilities who may be classified as English learners.
(b) The goal of the manual shall be to provide guidance, for
voluntary use by local educational agencies, including
charter schools, and the state special schools,
on evidence-based and promising practices for the identification,
assessment, and support of English learners who may have
disabilities support, and reclassification of these
pupils and to promote a collaborative approach among general
education teachers, special education teachers, school
administrators, paraprofessionals, other involved
personnel, and parents in determining the most appropriate
academic placements and services for these pupils.
(c) In developing the manual, the department shall do both of the
following:
(1) Review manuals and other resources produced on this topic by
local educational agencies, special education administrators, other
organizations, other states, and the federal government.
(2) Establish and consult with a stakeholder group comprised of
experts and practitioners. These individuals shall have expertise or
experience in either special education, English learner education, or
in both.
(d) The manual shall include all of the following topics:
(1) Guidance for accurately identifying English learners who may
have disabilities, disabilities and
accurately classifying pupils with disabilities as English learners,
including guidance on avoiding the over-identification
and under-identification overidentification and
underidentification of these pupils for special education
services and in different disability categories and in different
grade spans.
(2) Information on second language acquisition and progress,
including guidance on distinguishing between language acquisition and
disabilities.
(3) Examples of prereferral strategies, early interventions, and
early intervening strategies specifically addressing the needs of
English learners, including examples of early interventions for
pupils in preschool and the primary grades who are acquiring
foundational language and literacy skills.
(4) Guidance on referral processes.
(5) Guidance on the use of assessments, including the use of
multiple measures as well as assessment accommodations for both
language and disability, including assessment accommodations in
primary languages.
(6) Guidance on the consideration of extrinsic factors, such as
vision vision, hearing, and health, in
the identification of pupils.
(7) Guidance on the development of individualized education
programs for English learners, including the composition of
individualized education program teams.
(8) Guidance on how to support the language and content learning
needs of English learners who may have disabilities, including how to
do so in the least restrictive environment, as described in Section
56040.1. 56040.1, and in a manner that
enables access to the core curriculum.
(9) Guidance regarding placement or continued placement in
bilingual programs and on providing services and instruction in
primary languages.
(10) Guidance on special education exit and English learner
reclassification processes for English learners with disabilities.
(11) Information on the role of culture and acculturation, to the
extent it is related to the process of identifying English learners
for special education services.
(12) Guidance for working with families, including guidance on
meeting the needs of nonnative English speaking parents, guardians,
and educational rights holders in special education proceedings.
(13) Examples of any plans or processes used by local educational
agencies for continuous evaluation and systemic review,
including guidance on tracking effectiveness and
review and guidance on sharing information between special
education and English learner programs within local educational
agencies, agencies for the purpose of
tracking effectiveness, to the extent permitted under state and
federal law. law regarding the privacy of
pupil information.
(14) State and federal law, regulations, and guidance related to
the rights of English learners and pupils with disabilities.
(e) All guidance in the manual shall be consistent with state and
federal law, regulations, and guidance regarding English learners and
special education.
(f) The manual shall be written for ease of use by educators. The
department is encouraged to incorporate graphic organizers
and other helpful features such as flowcharts, checklists,
sample forms, and case examples.
(g) The department shall post the manual on its Internet Web site
and on its professional development Internet Web site.
(h) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "English learners" includes pupils who have been classified as
English learners and those who may later be classified as English
learners.
(2) "Pupils with disabilities" includes pupils who have been or
may later be identified as individuals with exceptional
needs, as defined in Section 56026, including pupils who have been or
may later be identified as having a low incidence
disability, as defined in Section 56026.5, or a severe disability, as
defined in Section 56030.5. 56030.5, and
also includes pupils with disabilities who may be later classified as
English learners.
(i) (1) (A) In implementing this section,
the department, with input from the stakeholder group, shall develop
a plan for the dissemination of the manual and the
means of providing professional development for staff
at schoolsites and administrators of local educational agencies
on the content of the manual. The plan shall address how
the state and local educational agencies can collaborate in meeting
both of these objectives. objectives in a
cost-effective manner.
(B) Implementation of the plan developed pursuant to subparagraph
(A) shall be contingent upon an appropriation for that purpose in the
annual Budget Act or another enacted statute.
(2) The plan shall be submitted to the state board, 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.
(j) It is the intent of the Legislature that this section be
funded with federal funds, to the extent permissible.