By: Zaffirini  S.B. No. 895
         (In the Senate - Filed February 19, 2019; March 1, 2019,
  read first time and referred to Committee on Education;
  April 9, 2019, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
  Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 10, Nays 0; April 9, 2019,
  sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 895 By:  West
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the language acquisition of children eight years of age
  or younger who are deaf or hard of hearing.
         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 Act 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 Act shall operate to override the
  parental consent provisions set forth in 34 C.F.R. Section 300.300.
         SECTION 2.  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 utilize 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 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 a provision of
  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 a provision of this Act using other
  appropriations available for the purpose.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
 
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