Amended in Assembly August 28, 2015

Amended in Assembly July 16, 2015

Amended in Assembly July 1, 2015

Amended in Senate June 2, 2015

Amended in Senate May 6, 2015

Amended in Senate April 20, 2015

Amended in Senate March 24, 2015

Senate Bill No. 210

Introduced by Senator Galgiani

February 11, 2015

An act to add Section 56326.5 to the Education Code, relating to special education.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 210, as amended, Galgiani. Special education: deaf and hard-of-hearing children: language developmental milestones.

(1) Existing law provides that the Superintendent of Public Instruction may authorize the California School for the Deaf, which is composed of two schools, the California School for the Deaf, Northern California, and the California School for the Deaf, Southern California, to establish and maintain a testing center for deaf and hard-of-hearing minors. Existing law provides that the purpose of the center shall be to test hearing acuity and to give such other tests as may be necessary for advising parents and school authorities concerning an appropriate educational program for the child. Existing law authorizes a pupil to be referred, as appropriate, to the California School for the Deaf, among other places, for further assessment and recommendations.

This bill would require the State Department of Education’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing begin delete unit, end delete begin insert unit end insert and the state’s 2 schools for the begin delete deaf, end delete begin insert deaf end insert to jointly select language developmental milestones from existing standardized norms for purposes of developing a resource for use by parents to monitor and track deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s expressive and receptive language acquisition and developmental stages toward English literacy. The bill would require the language developmental milestones to be selected from the language developmental milestones recommended by an ad hoc advisory committee, which the bill would establish, as provided. The bill would require the parent resource to, among other things, make clear that begin delete the parent resource end delete begin insert it end insert is not a formal assessment of language and literacy development, and that a parent’s observations of their children may differ from formal assessment data presented at an individualized family service plan (IFSP) or individualized education program (IEP) meeting, but to also make clear that a parent may bring the parent resource to an IFSP or IEP meeting for purposes of sharing their observations about their child’s development.

The bill would require the department to also begin delete develop a version of an existing tool end delete begin insert select existing tools or assessments end insert for educators that can be used to assess the language and literacy development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children, as specified. The bill would authorize the educator begin delete tool end delete begin insert tools or assessments end insert to be used, in addition to the assessment required by federal law, by the child’s IFSP or IEP team, as applicable, to track deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s progress, and to establish or modify IFSP or IEP plans.

The bill begin delete would require, end delete begin insert would, end insert if a child does not demonstrate progress in expressive and receptive language skills, as measured by begin delete the educator tool or end delete begin insert one of the selected educator tools or assessments, or by end insert the existing instrument used to satisfy federal law, begin insert require end insert the child’s IFSP or IEP team, as applicable, to explain in detail the reasons why the child is not meeting the language developmental milestones or progressing towards them, and to recommend specific strategies, services, and programs that would be provided to assist the child’s success toward English literacy. To the extent this provision would impose additional duties on local educational agency officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill also would require the department to disseminate the language developmental milestones to parents and guardians of deaf or hard-of-hearing children, and, pursuant to federal law, to disseminate the begin delete educator tool end delete begin insert selected educator tools and assessments end insert to local educational agencies for use in the development and modification of IFSP and IEP plans, and to provide materials and training on its use to assist the deaf or hard-of-hearing child in becoming linguistically ready for kindergarten using both or one of the languages of begin delete ASL end delete begin insert American Sign Language end insert and English.

The bill would require the department, commencing on or before July 31, 2017, and on or before each July 31 thereafter, to produce a report that is specific to language and literacy development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children from birth to 5 years of age, inclusive, including those who are deaf or hard of hearing and have other disabilities, relative to their peers who are not deaf or hard of hearing, as specified. The bill would require the department to make the report available on its Internet Web site. begin delete The bill also would require the department, on or before January 1, 2018, to develop specific action plans and regulations to fully implement the provisions of the bill. end delete

The bill would make these provisions applicable only to children from birth to 5 years of age, inclusive. The bill also would provide that implementation of these provisions is subject to an appropriation being made for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute.

(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

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

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 56326.5 is added to the Education Code,
to read:

56326.5.  

(a) The department’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing begin delete unit, end delete
begin insert unit end insert and the California School for the begin delete Deaf, end delete begin insert Deaf end insert shall jointly select
language developmental milestones from existing standardized
norms, pursuant to the process specified in subdivision (d), for
purposes of developing a resource for use by parents to monitor
and track deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s expressive and
receptive language acquisition and developmental stages toward
English literacy. This parent resource shall:

(1) Include the language developmental milestones selected
pursuant to the process specified in subdivision (d).

(2) Be appropriate for use, in both content and administration,
with deaf and hard-of-hearing children from birth to five years of
age, inclusive, who use both or one of the languages of American
Sign Language (ASL) and English. For purposes of this section,
“English” includes spoken English, written English, or English
with the use of visual supplements.

(3) Present the developmental milestones in terms of typical
development of all children, by age range.

(4) Be written for clarity and ease of use by parents.

(5) Be aligned to the department’s existing infant, toddler, and
preschool guidelines, the existing instrument used to assess the
development of children with disabilities pursuant to federal law,
and state standards in English language arts.

(6) Make clear that the parent resource is not a formal
assessment of language and literacy development, and that a
parent’s observations of their children may differ from formal
assessment data presented at an individualized family service plan
(IFSP) or individualized education program (IEP) meeting.

(7) Make clear that a parent may bring the parent resource to
an IFSP or IEP meeting for purposes of sharing their observations
about their child’s development.

(b) The department shall also begin delete develop a version of an end delete begin insert select end insert
existing begin delete tool end delete begin insert tools or assessments end insert for educators that can be used
to assess the language and literacy development of deaf and
hard-of-hearing children. begin delete This educator tool: end delete begin insert These educator tools
or assessments end insert begin insert : end insert

(1) Shall be in a begin delete standardized end delete format that shows stages of
language development.

(2) Shall be begin delete developed end delete begin insert selected end insert for use by educators to track
the development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s expressive
and receptive language acquisition and developmental stages
toward English literacy.

(3) Shall be begin delete a version of an end delete begin insert selected from end insert existing begin delete instrument end delete
begin insert instruments or assessments end insert used to assess the development of all
children begin delete for measuring the development of children with disabilities end delete
from birth to five begin delete year end delete begin insert years end insert of age, inclusive.

begin delete

(4) Shall present language and literacy development in terms
of age-referenced readiness zones.

end delete begin delete

(5)

end delete

begin insert (4) end insert  Shall be appropriate, in both content and administration, for
use with deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

begin delete

(6)

end delete

begin insert (5) end insert  May be used, in addition to the assessment required by
federal law, by the child’s IFSP or IEP team, as applicable, to track
deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s progress, and to establish or
modify IFSP or IEP plans.

begin delete

(7)

end delete

begin insert (6) end insert  May reflect the recommendations of the advisory committee
established pursuant to subdivision (e).

(c) (1) The department shall disseminate the parent resource
developed pursuant to subdivision (a) to parents and guardians of
deaf and hard-of-hearing children, and, pursuant to federal law,
shall disseminate the educator begin delete tool developed end delete begin insert tools and assessments
selected end insert pursuant to subdivision (b) to local educational agencies
for use in the development and modification of IFSP and IEP plans,
and shall provide materials and training on its use, to assist deaf
and hard-of-hearing children in becoming linguistically ready for
kindergarten using both or one of the languages of ASL and
English.

(2) If a deaf or hard-of-hearing child does not demonstrate
progress in expressive and receptive language skills, as measured
by begin delete the educator tool developed end delete begin insert one of the educator tools or
assessments selected end insert pursuant to subdivision begin delete (b) or end delete begin insert (b), or by end insert the
existing instrument used to assess the development of children
with disabilities pursuant to federal law, the child’s IFSP or IEP
team, as applicable, shall, as part of the process required by federal
law, explain in detail the reasons why the child is not meeting the
language developmental milestones or progressing towards them,
and shall recommend specific strategies, services, and programs
that shall be provided to assist the child’s success toward English
literacy.

(d) (1) On or before March 1, begin delete 2016, end delete begin insert 2017, end insert the department shall
provide the advisory committee established pursuant to subdivision
(e) with a list of existing language developmental milestones from
existing standardized norms, along with any relevant information
held by the department regarding those language developmental
milestones for possible inclusion in the parent resource developed
pursuant to subdivision (a). These language developmental
milestones shall be aligned to the department’s existing infant,
toddler, and preschool guidelines, the existing instrument used to
assess the development of children with disabilities pursuant to
federal law, and the state standards in English language arts.

(2) On or before June 1, begin delete 2016, end delete begin insert 2017, end insert the advisory committee
shall recommend language developmental milestones for selection
pursuant to subdivision (a).

(3) On or before June 30, begin delete 2016, end delete begin insert 2017, end insert the department shall
inform the advisory committee of which language developmental
milestones were selected.

(e) (1) The Superintendent shall establish an ad hoc advisory
committee for purposes of soliciting input from experts on the
selection of language developmental milestones for children who
are deaf or hard of hearing that are equivalent to those for children
who are not deaf or hard of hearing, for inclusion in the parent
resource developed pursuant to subdivision (a). The advisory
committee may also make recommendations on the begin delete design end delete begin insert selection end insert
and administration of the educator begin delete tool developed end delete begin insert tools or
assessments selected end insert pursuant to subdivision (b).

(2) The advisory committee shall consist of 13 volunteers, the
majority of whom shall be deaf or hard of hearing, and all of whom
shall be within the field of education for the deaf and hard of
hearing. The advisory committee shall include all of the following:

(A) One parent of a child who is deaf or hard of hearing who
uses the dual languages of ASL and English.

(B) One parent of a child who is deaf or hard of hearing who
uses only spoken English, with or without visual supplements.

(C) One credentialed teacher of deaf and hard-of-hearing pupils
who use the dual languages of ASL and English.

(D) One credentialed teacher of deaf and hard-of-hearing pupils
from a state certified nonpublic, nonsectarian school.

(E) One expert who researches language outcomes for deaf and
hard-of-hearing children using ASL and English.

(F) One expert who researches language outcomes for deaf and
hard-of-hearing children using spoken English, with or without
visual supplements.

(G) One credentialed teacher of deaf and hard-of-hearing pupils
whose expertise is in curriculum and instruction in ASL and
English.

(H) One credentialed teacher of deaf and hard-of-hearing pupils
whose expertise is in curriculum and instruction in spoken English,
with or without visual supplements.

(I) One advocate for the teaching and use of the dual languages
of ASL and English.

(J) One advocate for the teaching and use of spoken English,
with or without visual supplements.

(K) One early intervention specialist who works with deaf and
hard-of-hearing infants and toddlers using the dual languages of
ASL and English.

(L) One credentialed teacher of deaf and hard-of-hearing pupils
whose expertise is in ASL and English language assessment.

(M) One speech pathologist from spoken English, with or
without the use of visual supplements.

(f) The advisory committee established pursuant to subdivision
(e) may also advise the department or its contractor on the content
and administration of the existing instrument used to assess the
development of children with disabilities pursuant to federal law,
as used to assess deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s language and
literacy development to ensure the appropriate use of that
instrument with those children, and may make recommendations
regarding future research to improve the measurement of progress
of deaf and hard-of-hearing children in language and literacy.

(g) Commencing on or before July 31, 2017, and on or before
each July 31 thereafter, the department shall annually produce a
report, using existing data reported in compliance with the federally
required state performance plan on pupils with disabilities, that is
specific to language and literacy development of deaf and
hard-of-hearing children from birth to five years of age, inclusive,
including those who are deaf or hard of hearing and have other
disabilities, relative to their peers who are not deaf or hard of
hearing. The department shall make this report available on its
Internet Web site.

(h) All activities of the department in implementing this section
shall be consistent with federal law regarding the education of
children with disabilities and federal law regarding the privacy of
pupil information.

begin delete

(i) The department shall, on or before January 1, 2018, develop
specific action plans and regulations to fully implement this section.

(j)

end delete

begin insert (i) end insert  For the purpose of this section, the term “language
developmental milestones” means milestones of development
aligned with the existing state instrument used to meet the
requirements of federal law for the assessment of children from
birth to five years of age, inclusive.

begin delete

(k)

end delete

begin insert (j) end insert  This section shall apply only to children from birth to five
years of age, inclusive.

begin delete

(l)

end delete

begin insert (k) end insert  Implementation of this section is subject to an appropriation
being made for purposes of this section in the annual Budget Act
or another statute.

SEC. 2.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.