Bill Text: WV HB2913 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced

West Virginia House Bill 2913 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Relating to language development milestones

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-02-07 - To House Education [HB2913 Detail]

Download: West_Virginia-2019-HB2913-Introduced.html

FISCAL NOTE WEST virginia legislature

2019 regular session

Introduced

House Bill 2913

By Delegates Campbell, Canestraro, Williams, Staggers, Lavender-Bowe, Byrd, Hornbuckle, Estep-Burton and Higginbotham

[ Introduced February 7, 2019; Referred
to the Committee on Education.]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §18-20-11, relating to the selection of language developmental milestones 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.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 20. EDUCATION OF EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN.

§18-20-11. Selection of language developmental milestones 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.

(a) The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources through its agencies that serve children ages birth to three and their families; the West Virginia Department of Education, office of Special Programs that serve children ages three to five, inclusive; and the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind shall jointly select language developmental milestones from existing standardized norms, pursuant to the process specified in subsection (d) of this section, for purposes of developing a resource for use by parents to monitor and track all deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s expressive and receptive language acquisition and developmental stages toward English literacy from birth through five, inclusive. This parent resource shall:

(1) Include the language developmental milestones selected pursuant to the process specified in subsection (d) of this section;

(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, English with the use of visual supplements;

(3) Present the developmental milestones in terms of typical development of all children, by age range from birth to five, inclusive;

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

(5) Be aligned with the departments’ 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(s) have the right to select which language (ASL, English, or both) for their child’s language(s) acquisition and developmental milestones;

(7) 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;

(8) 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; and

(9) Include fair, balanced, and comprehensive information about language(s) and communication modes, as well as available services and programs.

(b) The departments shall also 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. These educator tools or assessments:

(1) Shall be in a format that shows stages of language development;

(2) Shall 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;

(3) Shall be selected from existing instruments or assessments used to assess the development of all children from birth to five years of age, inclusive;

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

(5) 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; and

(6) May reflect the recommendations of the advisory committee established pursuant to subsection (e) of this section.

(c)(1) The departments shall disseminate the parent resource developed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section to parents and guardians of deaf and hard-of-hearing children, and, pursuant to federal law, shall disseminate the educator tools and assessments selected pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, 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 one of the educator tools or assessments selected pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, or by 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, 2020, the departments shall provide the advisory committee established pursuant to subsection (e) of this section 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 subsection (a) of this section. These language developmental milestones shall be aligned to the departments’ 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, 2020, the advisory committee shall recommend language developmental milestones for selection pursuant to subsection (a) of this section.

(3) On or before June 30, 2020, the departments shall inform the advisory committee of which language developmental milestones were selected.

(e)(1) The Superintendent of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind 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 subsection (a) of this section. The advisory committee may also make recommendations on the selection and administration of the educator tools or assessments selected pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.

(2) The advisory committee shall consist of 13 volunteers, the majority of whom shall be deaf or hard of hearing; the advisory committee shall be comprised of advocates and professionals, all of whom shall be within the field of education for the deaf and hard of hearing; and parents. The advisory committee shall have a balance of members who personally, professionally, or parentally use the dual languages of ASL and English and members who personally, professionally, or parentally use only spoken English. The advisory committee could include all of the following as determined by the state. Listed below are examples of members of the ad hoc committee:

(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;

(D) One credentialed teacher of deaf and hard-of-hearing pupils from a spoken English- only 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; and

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

(f) The advisory committee established pursuant to subsection (e) of this section may also advise the departments 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, 2020, and on or before each July 31 thereafter, the departments shall annually produce a report, using existing data reported in compliance with the federally required state performance plan on children 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 departments shall make this report available on its Internet website by posting said data in the aggregate.

(h) All activities of the departments 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.

(i) 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.

(j) For the purposes of this section, the term “language” includes ASL and English.

(k) For the purposes of developing and using language as defined in subdivision (1), section (b) of this section, for a child who is deaf or hard-of-hearing, the following modes of communication may be used as a means for acquiring language: ASL services, spoken language services, dual language services, cued speech, and tactile, or a combination thereof.

(l) This section applies only to children from birth to five years of age, inclusive.

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

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to the selection of language developmental milestones 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.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.