BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 210
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
210 (Galgiani)
As Amended August 28, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 40-0
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Education |7-0 |O'Donnell, Chávez, | |
| | |Kim, McCarty, | |
| | |Santiago, Thurmond, | |
| | |Weber | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, | |
| | |Nazarian, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Quirk, Rendon, | |
| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SB 210
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SUMMARY: Requires the California Department of Education (CDE)
to develop a parent resource and select existing educator tools
for measuring the language and literacy development of deaf and
hard-of-hearing children age zero to five years, and to report
annually on the language and literacy outcomes of these
children. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the CDE's Deaf and Hard-of-hearing unit, and the
California School for the Deaf, 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. Requires that
this parent resource:
a) Include the language developmental milestones selected
pursuant to a specified process.
b) Be appropriate for use, in both content and
administration, with deaf and hard-of-hearing children from
birth to five years of age who use both or one of the
languages of American Sign Language (ASL) and English.
Defines "English," for purposes of the section, to include
spoken English, written English, or English with the use of
visual supplements.
c) Present the developmental milestones in terms of typical
development of all children, by age range.
d) Be written for clarity and ease of use by parents.
e) Be aligned to the CDE's existing infant, toddler, and
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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.
f) Make clear that the parent resource is not a formal
assessment of language and literacy development, and that
parents' observations of their children may differ from
formal assessment data presented at an individualized
family service plan (IFSP) or individualized education
program (IEP) meeting.
g) 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.
2)Requires the CDE to select existing tools or assessments for
educators that can be used to assess the language and literacy
development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children. Requires
that these tools or assessments:
a) Be in a format that shows stages of language
development.
b) Be selected 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.
c) Be selected from existing instruments or assessments
used to assess the development of all children from birth
to five years of age.
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d) Be appropriate, in both content and administration, for
use with deaf and hard-of-hearing children.
e) 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.
f) May reflect the recommendations of the advisory
committee established by this bill.
1)Requires the CDE to disseminate the parent resource to parents
and guardians of deaf and hard-of-hearing children, and
disseminate the selected tools or assessments to LEAs for use
in the development and modification of IFSP and IEP plans.
2)Requires the CDE to provide materials and training on the use
of the tools or assessments, 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.
3)Requires that, if a deaf or hard-of-hearing child does not
demonstrate progress in expressive and receptive language
skills, as measured by the educator tool selected or the
existing instrument used to assess the development of children
with disabilities pursuant to federal law, the child's IFSP or
IEP team explain in detail the reasons why the child is not
meeting the language developmental milestones or progressing
towards them, and recommend specific strategies, services, and
programs that will be provided to assist the child.
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4)Requires the CDE to, on or before March 1, 2017, provide the
advisory committee established by this bill with a list of
existing language developmental milestones from existing
standardized norms, along with any relevant information held
by the CDE regarding those language developmental milestones,
for possible inclusion in the parent resource.
5)Requires that these language developmental milestones be
aligned to the CDE'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.
6)Requires, on or before June 1, 2017, the advisory committee to
recommend language developmental milestones for selection for
the parent resource.
7)Requires, on or before June 30, 2017, the CDE to inform the
advisory committee of which language developmental milestones
were selected.
8)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to
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.
9)States that the advisory committee may also make
recommendations on the selection of the tools or assessments
for educators.
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10)Requires that the committee consist of 13 volunteers, the
majority of whom are deaf or hard-of-hearing, and all of whom
are within the field of education for the deaf and
hard-of-hearing. Requires the committee to consist of:
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
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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.
aa) One early intervention specialist who works with deaf
and hard-of-hearing infants and toddlers using the dual
languages of ASL and English.
bb) One credentialed teacher of deaf and hard-of-hearing
pupils whose expertise is in ASL and English language
assessment.
cc) One speech pathologist from spoken English, with or
without the use of visual supplements.
1)States that the advisory committee may also advise the CDE 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.
2)Requires that, by July 31, 2017, and annually thereafter, the
CDE produce a report, using existing data reported in
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compliance with the federally required state performance plan
on pupils with disabilities, on the language and literacy
development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children from birth to
five years of age, 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. Requires the CDE to
make this report available on its website.
3)Requires that all activities of the CDE in implementing the
section be consistent with federal law regarding the education
of children with disabilities and the privacy of pupil
information.
4)Defines, for the purpose of the section, the term "language
developmental milestones" to mean 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.
5)Makes implementation of this section subject to an
appropriation being made for purposes of this section in the
annual Budget Act or another statute.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)General Fund administrative costs to the CDE of approximately
$250,000. Administrative costs include development of the
parent resource, implementation of the educator tool
requirement, and annual reporting. Administrative costs are
contingent upon an appropriation for this purpose in the
annual Budget Act or another statute.
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2)Unknown Proposition 98 (1988)/General Fund cost pressure to
local education agencies, potentially in the hundreds of
thousands, for IFSP or IEP teams to recommend strategies,
services and programs to assist the child towards English
literacy. This requirement is contingent upon an
appropriation in the annual budget act or another statute.
This requirement may constitute a state reimbursable mandate
to the extent these requirements are found to be in excess of
federal law.
COMMENTS:
Need for this bill. The author's office states, "Children who
are deaf and hard-of-hearing have the same ability and
capability to learn language as their peers who are not deaf and
hard-of-hearing. The ability and right to develop one's
language is central to the human experience and a necessary
prerequisite to any literacy, cognitive, emotional, linguistic,
academic, and social growth. Without language, there can be no
education.
"Current statistics show that many children who are deaf and
hard-of-hearing arrive at Kindergarten with severe language
delays and in many cases, language deprivation. These children
begin Kindergarten without the necessary language skills to
acquire the knowledge and academic competences, which will allow
them to be successful in school and life. Currently, there are
no requirements to assess the language development of children
birth to five who are deaf and hard-of-hearing or to monitor
their progress in the languages most commonly used by
individuals who are deaf and hard-of-hearing in the United
States: American Sign Language and English."
Language deprivation among deaf and hard-of-hearing students in
California. According to the CDE, in California there are
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approximately 17,000 students, ages birth to 22, who are deaf or
hard-of-hearing. The CDE notes that historically most deaf and
hard-of-hearing students struggle academically because of their
limited access to language. This lack of access to language,
sometimes called "language deprivation," can cause language
delays, and because language and cognition are closely related,
language deprivation may lead to cognitive delays.
However, research has demonstrated that children who are deaf
are identified and enrolled in appropriate Early Start services
by six months of age can develop language and cognitive skills
commensurate with their non-deaf peers.
The largest data set showing the language development of deaf
and hard-of-hearing students on standardized tests comes from a
longitudinal study using the Stanford Achievement Test. This
study began in 1969 and ran for over 30 years. It measured
normative performance of deaf and hard-of-hearing students ages
eight to 18 on reading comprehension tests, and found that,
between 1974 and 2003, median performance never exceeded the
fourth-grade equivalent for any age cohort. It also noted
persistent problems in designing a valid and reliable way to
measure the academic performance of deaf and hard-of-hearing
students.
Data from the 2008 administration of the California Standards
Tests of English language arts show that less than 10% of deaf
and 23% of hard-of-hearing students scored at the "proficient"
or higher levels. Fifty-one percent of deaf students scored at
the "far below basic" level, the lowest category of performance.
This is the only publicly available state data disaggregated
for these students.
Universal newborn screening creates new opportunity to intervene
in critical early years. In numerous policy statements and
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recommendations relating to the education of deaf and
hard-of-hearing students there is universal recognition that
early identification and intervention is critical to language
development.
As late as 2000, the average age of identification of deaf and
hard-of-hearing children was two and a half years. Recognition
of the importance of early identification has led to policies
increasing newborn screening from 46% in 1999 to 98% in 2011,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Research has demonstrated that identification of hearing
difficulty prior to six months is associated with significantly
better language scores than identification after six months of
age. For children with normal cognitive abilities, this
advantage holds true across ages, communication modes, degrees
of hearing loss, socioeconomic status, gender, race, and the
presence or absence of additional disabilities.
One longitudinal study found that the age of intervention
accounted for over 55% of the difference in language ability at
age five. Other research found that parental involvement
accounts for 35% of language ability differences at age five.
An estimated 96% of deaf and hard-of-hearing children are born
to hearing parents, who often lack information and skill which
could help them promote language and literacy development in the
critical early years.
Recognizing the importance of early intervention, as well as the
vital role of parents, this bill is intended to provide parents,
educators, and policymakers tools for addressing language
deprivation among deaf and hard-of-hearing children during the
children's early years. Earlier identification and recognition
of the role of early intervention may create new opportunities
to improve the language outcomes of deaf and hard-of-hearing
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children.
No publicly available state data on deaf and hard-of-hearing
language outcomes. While the CDE collects data on the progress
of students with disabilities in English language arts in grades
3 - 8 and 11, this data is reported as the performance of all
students with disabilities, with no disaggregation by
disability. And while the state collects data on language
development of children with disabilities ages birth to five at
state funded child care/development and preschool programs for
purposes of reporting to the federal government, it is also not
disaggregated by disability.
As a result it is not possible to examine the language
development of deaf and hard-of-hearing students, or view trends
over time to measure the impact of policy and programmatic
changes. The proponents of this bill support such reporting,
and a reporting requirement is included in the staff recommended
amendments listed at the end of this analysis.
Desired Results Developmental Profile provides information
useful for both individual children and state policy. In
various places this bill refers to an "instrument used to assess
the development of children with disabilities pursuant to
federal law." This is a reference to the CDE's Desired Results
Developmental Profile (DRDP). The DRDP was developed to measure
the educational progress of young children, and to meet federal
requirements to monitor the educational and developmental
progress of children with disabilities (through the DRDP Access
Project). The DRDP is an assessment instrument based on a
developmental continuum from early infancy to kindergarten
entry, and is administered twice each year to children in state
funded child care/development and preschool programs. It
provides an individual profile of a child's developmental and
school readiness skills in eight domains, including language and
literacy, math and science, social-emotional development, and
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English language development.
The CDE uses the results of the DRDP assessment to meet federal
accountability requirements under the individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and it is used with children
who deaf and hard-of-hearing. The DRDP was developed according
to the principles of universal design for use with all children
including those with disabilities, and provides children the
opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in a
variety of ways. Each child's DRDP data is used to provide an
overall summary of progress, determined by comparing each
child's level of functioning and individual progress to a sample
of same-aged peers. Special Education Local Plan Areas (SELPAs)
are required to report DRDP data to the CDE through the
California Special Education Management Information System
(CASEMIS). The DRDP is aligned to the CDE's Infant, Toddler,
and Preschool Learning Foundations and the Common Core state
standards for kindergarten.
The DRDP is an evidence-based, valid and reliable assessment.
DRDP statewide data can be disaggregated by disability and, as
required by this bill, reports can be created for deaf and
hard-of-hearing students' performance relative to their non-deaf
and hard-of-hearing peers. The proponents of this bill express
concern that this assessment does not adequately measure the
language development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children, and
are thus proposing that alternate assessments be selected for
that purpose.
Analysis Prepared by:
Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN:
0001719
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