Bill Text: NY A02283 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Requires school districts to conduct mandatory early screening for dyslexia for all children commencing in pre-kindergarten or kindergarten and continuing thereafter on an annual basis until each child successfully completes second grade; requires school districts to designate an individual to maintain complete and accurate records containing early screening reports for each child, and to provide resources and materials to the parent and/or guardian of any child who displays indications of dyslexia.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-5)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - referred to education [A02283 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A02283-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         2283--A

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 14, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. SIMON, McDONALD -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A.
          ASHBY,  BRONSON, CARROLL, FALL, GLICK, GRIFFIN, HUNTER, LUPARDO, McDO-
          NOUGH, NORRIS, QUART, SILLITTI, STECK, TAGUE, TAYLOR, THIELE, WALSH --
          read once and referred to the  Committee  on  Education  --  committee
          discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
          to said committee

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  education  law,  in relation to mandatory early
          screening for dyslexia

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 319 to
     2  read as follows:
     3    § 319. Mandatory early screening for dyslexia. 1. All school districts
     4  shall  be  required to conduct full and individual screenings in accord-
     5  ance with this section for purposes of  early  identification,  support,
     6  intervention  and  accommodation  of  children  with  dyslexia and other
     7  learning disabilities. For purposes of this section, the term "dyslexia"
     8  means a specific learning disability that is neurobiological  in  origin
     9  and  that  is  characterized by unexpected difficulties with accurate or
    10  fluent word recognition and poor spelling and decoding abilities,  which
    11  difficulty  typically  results from a deficit in the phonological compo-
    12  nent of language and that is inconsistent  with  the  person's  intelli-
    13  gence,  motivation, and sensory capabilities and the provision of effec-
    14  tive instruction.
    15    2. Mandatory early screening for dyslexia shall be conducted  by  each
    16  school  district  using  an assessment tool that includes targeted ques-
    17  tions and student tasks designed to quickly and reliably gather  certain
    18  relevant  functional  and  developmental information consistent with the
    19  research findings in this area and supported  by  the  findings  in  the
    20  Report  of  the  National  Reading  Panel  from  2000, from all children
    21  screened pursuant to this section. Such questions  and  tasks  shall  be

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01110-02-1
        A. 2283--A                          2

     1  aligned  with developmental benchmarks in specific precursors correlated
     2  with reading  acquisition  based  on  the  recognized  reading  science.
     3  Mandatory  early  screening  shall  commence  during pre-kindergarten or
     4  kindergarten,  whichever is earlier, and shall continue thereafter on an
     5  annual basis until such child  has  successfully  completed  the  second
     6  grade.    The  assessment  tools used shall be selected from an approved
     7  list of tools deemed to be valid and reliable, with training and  subse-
     8  quent coaching provided to teachers to ensure fidelity to the assessment
     9  model  as  per  the  research methodology provided in the development of
    10  such tools.
    11    3. Upon completion of  the  administration  of  each  mandatory  early
    12  screening,  a copy of each early screening report and any other findings
    13  shall be given to the parent and/or guardian and teachers  and  teaching
    14  assistants  of each child identified as at risk for reading failure, and
    15  the individual designated in subdivision four of this section.
    16    4. Each school district shall  designate  an  individual  to  maintain
    17  complete  and accurate records, including copies of each early screening
    18  report, for all children for the duration of  each  child's  educational
    19  pursuit  or  until  such  child reaches the age of sixteen, whichever is
    20  later. The designated individual shall provide resources  and  materials
    21  to  the  parent  and/or  guardian of any child who displays low phonemic
    22  awareness and other indications of dyslexia.
    23    5. School districts shall ensure that the assessment results are  used
    24  in  a proactive manner, ensuring that findings of risk for reading fail-
    25  ure are followed up immediately by the provision of research-based meth-
    26  ods of instruction and intervention in the identified areas of  need  to
    27  ensure that risk does not turn into failure.
    28    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.