Bill Text: TX HB548 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to reporting certain information through the Public Education Information Management System.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-06-14 - Effective on 9/1/19 [HB548 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB548-Enrolled.html
H.B. No. 548 |
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relating to reporting certain information through the Public | ||
Education Information Management System. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. (a) The legislature finds that children who are | ||
deaf or hard of hearing are often at risk for language delay or | ||
deprivation. Research indicates that there is limited success in | ||
addressing these issues after the optimal period for language | ||
acquisition. It is critical that the language acquisition of | ||
children who are deaf or hard of hearing is closely monitored from | ||
birth through age eight to enable the use of timely interventions | ||
that support age-appropriate language skills. Therefore, the | ||
purpose of this section is to generate and monitor data on the | ||
language acquisition of children eight years of age or younger who | ||
are deaf or hard of hearing by: | ||
(1) identifying language assessment protocols that | ||
are appropriate for the development and age of each child; and | ||
(2) annually gathering and publishing relevant data. | ||
(b) Nothing in this section shall operate to override the | ||
parental consent provisions set forth in 34 C.F.R. Section 300.300. | ||
(c) Subchapter I, Chapter 29, Education Code, is amended by | ||
adding Section 29.316 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 29.316. LANGUAGE ACQUISITION. (a) In this section: | ||
(1) "Center" means the Educational Resource Center on | ||
Deafness at the Texas School for the Deaf. | ||
(2) "Division" means the Division for Early Childhood | ||
Intervention Services of the Health and Human Services Commission. | ||
(3) "Language acquisition" includes expressive and | ||
receptive language acquisition and literacy development in | ||
English, American Sign Language, or both, or, if applicable, in | ||
another language primarily used by a child's parent or guardian, | ||
and is separate from any modality used to communicate in the | ||
applicable language or languages. | ||
(b) The commissioner and the executive commissioner of the | ||
Health and Human Services Commission jointly shall ensure that the | ||
language acquisition of each child eight years of age or younger who | ||
is deaf or hard of hearing is regularly assessed using a tool or | ||
assessment determined to be valid and reliable as provided by | ||
Subsection (d). | ||
(c) Not later than August 31 of each year, the agency, the | ||
division, and the center jointly shall prepare and post on the | ||
agency's, the division's, and the center's respective Internet | ||
websites a report on the language acquisition of children eight | ||
years of age or younger who are deaf or hard of hearing. The report | ||
must: | ||
(1) include: | ||
(A) existing data reported in compliance with | ||
federal law regarding children with disabilities; and | ||
(B) information relating to the language | ||
acquisition of children who are deaf or hard of hearing and also | ||
have other disabilities; | ||
(2) state for each child: | ||
(A) the instructional arrangement used with the | ||
child, as described by Section 42.151, including the time the child | ||
spends in a mainstream instructional arrangement; | ||
(B) the specific language acquisition services | ||
provided to the child, including: | ||
(i) the time spent providing those | ||
services; and | ||
(ii) a description of any hearing | ||
amplification used in the delivery of those services, including: | ||
(a) the type of hearing amplification | ||
used; | ||
(b) the period of time in which the | ||
child has had access to the hearing amplification; and | ||
(c) the average amount of time the | ||
child uses the hearing amplification each day; | ||
(C) the tools or assessments used to assess the | ||
child's language acquisition and the results obtained; | ||
(D) the preferred unique communication mode used | ||
by the child at home; and | ||
(E) the child's age, race, and gender, the age at | ||
which the child was identified as being deaf or hard of hearing, and | ||
any other relevant demographic information the commissioner | ||
determines to likely be correlated with or have an impact on the | ||
child's language acquisition; | ||
(3) compare progress in English literacy made by | ||
children who are deaf or hard of hearing to progress in that subject | ||
made by children of the same age who are not deaf or hard of hearing, | ||
by appropriate age range; and | ||
(4) be redacted as necessary to comply with state and | ||
federal law regarding the confidentiality of student medical or | ||
educational information. | ||
(d) The commissioner, the executive commissioner of the | ||
Health and Human Services Commission, and the center shall enter | ||
into a memorandum of understanding regarding: | ||
(1) the identification of experts in deaf education; | ||
and | ||
(2) the determination, in consultation with those | ||
experts, of the tools and assessments that are valid and reliable, | ||
in both content and administration, for use in assessing the | ||
language acquisition of children eight years of age or younger who | ||
are deaf or hard of hearing. | ||
(e) The agency shall use existing collected data and data | ||
collected and transferred from the Department of State Health | ||
Services and the Health and Human Services Commission, as agreed | ||
upon in the memorandum of understanding, for the report under this | ||
section. | ||
(f) The commissioner and the executive commissioner of the | ||
Health and Human Services Commission jointly shall adopt rules as | ||
necessary to implement this section, including rules for: | ||
(1) assigning each child eight years of age or younger | ||
who is deaf or hard of hearing a unique identification number for | ||
purposes of the report required under Subsection (c) and to enable | ||
the tracking of the child's language acquisition, and factors | ||
affecting the child's language acquisition, over time; and | ||
(2) implementing this section in a manner that | ||
complies with federal law regarding confidentiality of student | ||
medical or educational information, including the Health Insurance | ||
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. Section 1320d | ||
et seq.) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 | ||
(20 U.S.C. Section 1232g), and any state law relating to the privacy | ||
of student information. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 42.006, Education Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subsection (a-6) to read as follows: | ||
(a-6) The commissioner by rule shall require each school | ||
district and open-enrollment charter school to report through the | ||
Public Education Information Management System information | ||
disaggregated by campus and grade regarding: | ||
(1) the number of children who are required to attend | ||
school under Section 25.085, are not exempted under Section 25.086, | ||
and fail to attend school without excuse for 10 or more days or | ||
parts of days within a six-month period in the same school year; | ||
(2) the number of students for whom the district | ||
initiates a truancy prevention measure under Section 25.0915(a-4); | ||
and | ||
(3) the number of parents of students against whom an | ||
attendance officer or other appropriate school official has filed a | ||
complaint under Section 25.093. | ||
SECTION 3. (a) In this section: | ||
(1) "Agency" means the Texas Education Agency. | ||
(2) "Center" means the Educational Resource Center on | ||
Deafness at the Texas School for the Deaf. | ||
(3) "Division" means the Division for Early Childhood | ||
Intervention Services of the Health and Human Services Commission. | ||
(b) Not later than December 1, 2019, the commissioner of | ||
education, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human | ||
Services Commission, and the center jointly shall determine the | ||
tools and assessments that are valid and reliable for use in | ||
assessing the language acquisition of children eight years of age | ||
or younger who are deaf or hard of hearing as required under Section | ||
29.316(d), Education Code, as added by this Act. | ||
(c) Notwithstanding Section 29.316(c), Education Code, as | ||
added by this Act, the agency, the division, and the center jointly | ||
shall prepare and post on the agency's, division's, and center's | ||
respective Internet websites the initial report required under that | ||
subsection not later than December 1, 2020. | ||
SECTION 4. The Texas Education Agency and the Health and | ||
Human Services Commission are required to implement Section 29.316, | ||
Education Code, as added by this Act, only if the legislature | ||
appropriates money specifically for that purpose. If the | ||
legislature does not appropriate money specifically for that | ||
purpose, the agency and commission may, but are not required to, | ||
implement Section 29.316, Education Code, as added by this Act, | ||
using other appropriations available for the purpose. | ||
SECTION 5. Not later than January 1, 2020, the commissioner | ||
of education shall adopt rules required by Section 42.006(a-6), | ||
Education Code, as added by this Act. | ||
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I certify that H.B. No. 548 was passed by the House on April | ||
16, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 137, Nays 0, 1 present, not | ||
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B. | ||
No. 548 on May 23, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 142, Nays 0, 1 | ||
present, not voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
I certify that H.B. No. 548 was passed by the Senate, with | ||
amendments, on May 20, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays | ||
0. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
APPROVED: __________________ | ||
Date | ||
__________________ | ||
Governor |