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