Substitute For
HOUSE BILL NO. 5836
A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled
"The revised school code,"
(MCL 380.1 to 380.1852) by adding section 1705.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
Sec. 1705. (1) By August 31, 2022, the
department shall develop a resource for use by a parent or legal guardian of a
child who is deaf or hard of hearing and is age 5 or younger that allows the
parent or legal guardian to monitor and track the child's expressive and
receptive language acquisition and developmental stages toward English
literacy. The resource developed under this subsection must meet all of the
following requirements:
(a)
Include the language developmental milestones selected under subsection (7).
(b)
Present the language developmental milestones described in subdivision (a) in
terms of the typical development of all children by age range.
(c)
Provide appropriate content and administration regarding language assessment
and delivery of the assessment for children who are deaf or hard of hearing, are
age 5 or younger, and who use American Sign Language, English, or both.
(d)
Be written clearly for easy use by parents and legal guardians.
(e)
Be aligned with any existing infant, toddler, and preschool department guidelines,
be aligned with existing instruments used to assess the development of children
with disabilities under federal law, and be aligned with state standards in
English language arts.
(f)
Subject to the individuals with disabilities education act, 20 USC 1400 to
1482, include a statement that the parent or legal guardian of a child who is
deaf or hard of hearing has the sole discretion to choose American Sign
Language, English, or both, and a mode of communication for the child's
language acquisition and developmental milestones.
(g)
Provide that the resource is not a formal assessment of language and literacy
development.
(h)
Provide that a parent's or legal guardian's observation of his or her child may
differ from formal assessment data presented at an individualized family
service plan or individualized education program meeting.
(i)
Provide that a parent or legal guardian may bring the resource to an individualized
family service plan or individualized education program meeting for purposes of
sharing his or her observations about his or her child's development.
(j)
Include fair, balanced, and comprehensive information about languages, modes of
communication, and all services and programs.
(2)
The department shall adopt existing tools or assessments to be used by local
school districts, intermediate school districts, public school academies, and
the Michigan School for the Deaf to assess the language and literacy development
of a child who is deaf or hard of hearing and is age 5 or younger. The tools or
assessments adopted by the department under this subsection must meet all of
the following:
(a)
Are in a format that shows stages of language development.
(b)
Are used by local school districts, intermediate school districts, public
school academies, and the Michigan School for the Deaf to track the development
of the expressive and receptive language acquisition and developmental stages
toward English literacy of a child who is deaf or hard of hearing at age 5 or
younger.
(c)
Are selected from existing instruments or assessments used to assess the development
of all children who are deaf or hard of hearing and are age 5 or younger.
(d)
Are appropriate in content and administration for use with a child who is deaf
or hard of hearing and is age 5 or younger.
(e)
Are designed for use, in addition to any assessment required under federal law,
by a child's individualized family service plan team or individualized
education program team to track the progress of a child who is deaf or hard of hearing
and to establish or modify an individualized family service plan or
individualized education program.
(f)
Are reflective of the recommendations of the advisory committee established
under subsection (7).
(3)
Subject to federal law, the department shall provide the resource developed under
subsection (1) to parents and legal guardians of children who are deaf
or hard of hearing, shall provide the tools and assessments adopted under subsection
(2) to intermediate school districts, public school academies, and the Michigan
School for the Deaf for use in the development and modification of individualized
family service plans or individualized education programs, and shall provide materials
and training to parents and legal guardians of children who are deaf or hard of
hearing, on the use of the resource developed under subsection (1) to assist a child
who is deaf or hard of hearing and is age 5 or younger to be linguistically
ready for kindergarten using American Sign Language or English, or both. The
intermediate school districts shall provide the tools and assessments provided
by the department under this subsection to its local school districts.
(4)
By September 1, 2022, local school districts, intermediate school districts,
public school academies, and the Michigan School for the Deaf shall implement
the tools and assessments developed under subsection (2) to track the
development of the expressive and receptive language acquisition and
developmental stages toward English literacy of a child who is deaf or hard of
hearing at age 5 or younger.
(a)
A written statement explaining in detail why the child is not meeting the
developmental milestones or progressing toward them.
(b)
A written recommendation including specific strategies, services, and programs
that must be provided to the child to assist the child toward becoming
linguistically prepared for kindergarten and English literacy.
(6)
Subject to the individuals with disabilities education act, 20 USC 1400 to 1482,
a child who is identified as deaf or hard of hearing must be provided a learning
environment that includes services that utilize the family's choice for the
child's language development and that are delivered by professionals with the background,
training, and experience in and who use American Sign Language, English, or
both.
(7)
For the purposes of developing the parent resource described in subsection (1),
all of the following apply:
(a)
On or before March 1, 2022, the department shall provide the advisory committee
established under subsection (8) with a list of language developmental
milestones based on standardized norms, along with any relevant information
held by the department regarding those language developmental milestones for
possible inclusion in the parent resource developed under subsection (1). The
language developmental milestones must be aligned with any applicable existing infant,
toddler, and preschool department guidelines, existing instruments used to
assess the development of children with disabilities under federal law, and state
standards in English language arts.
(b)
On or before May 1, 2022, the advisory committee established under subsection
(8) shall recommend language developmental milestones selected for inclusion in
the parent resource described under subsection (1).
(c)
On or before June 30, 2022, the department shall inform the advisory committee
established under subsection (8) of the language developmental milestones that were
selected under subdivision (b) for inclusion in the parent resource described
under subsection (1).
(d)
On December 31, 2022, the advisory committee established under subsection (8)
is dissolved and shall cease operations.
(8)
On January 1, 2022, superintendent of public instruction shall appoint 15 volunteer
members to an advisory committee within the department for a 1-year term. All
of the following apply to the advisory committee described in this subsection:
(a)
The advisory committee shall solicit input from experts on the selection of
language developmental milestones for children who are age 5 or younger and who
are deaf or hard of hearing that are equivalent to those for children who are
age 5 or younger and who are not deaf or hard of hearing, for inclusion in the
resource described under subsection (1).
(b)
The advisory committee may make recommendations on materials that are unbiased
and comprehensive to add to the resource described under subsection (1).
(c)
The committee must be composed of advocates and professionals within the field
of education for the deaf or hard of hearing and parents of children who are deaf
or hard of hearing. The advisory committee must have both members who
personally, professionally, or parentally use the dual languages of American
Sign Language and English and members who personally, professionally, or parentally
use only spoken English. The advisory committee must include all of the
following:
(i) One parent or legal guardian of a
child who is deaf or hard of hearing who uses the dual languages of American
Sign Language and English.
(ii) One parent or legal guardian of a
child who is deaf or hard of hearing who uses only spoken English and a mode of
communication.
(iii) One certificated teacher of pupils
who are deaf and hard of hearing who uses the dual languages of American Sign
Language and English.
(iv) One certificated teacher of pupils
who are deaf and hard of hearing from a spoken-English language program.
(v) One certificated teacher of pupils
who are deaf and hard of hearing whose expertise is in curriculum and
instruction in American Sign Language and English.
(vi) One certificated teacher of pupils
who are deaf and hard of hearing whose expertise is in curriculum and
instruction in spoken English and a mode of communication.
(vii) One certificated teacher of pupils
who are deaf and hard of hearing whose expertise is in American Sign Language and
English language assessments.
(viii) One American Sign Language expert,
as determined by certification and an American Sign Language Proficiency
Interview of 4.0 or higher, who researches language outcomes for children who
are deaf and hard of hearing using American Sign Language and English.
(ix) One expert who researches language
outcomes for children who are deaf and hard of hearing using spoken English and
a mode of communication.
(x) One advocate for the teaching and
use of the dual languages of American Sign Language and English.
(xi) One advocate for the teaching and
use of spoken English and a mode of communication.
(xii) One early intervention specialist
who works with infants and toddlers who are deaf and hard of hearing using the
dual languages of American Sign Language and English.
(xiii) One early intervention specialist
who works with infants and toddlers who are deaf and hard of hearing utilizing
spoken language and a mode of communication.
(xiv) One speech language pathologist proficient in
American Sign Language and English whose expertise is in assessment of and intervention
with children who are deaf and hard of hearing.
(xv) One educational audiologist, licensed under
part 168 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.16801 to 333.16811,
proficient in American Sign Language and English.
(9)
The advisory committee established under subsection (8) may also advise the
department on the content and administration of existing instruments used to
assess the development of children with disabilities under federal law, as used
to assess the language and literacy development of children who are deaf and
hard of hearing to recommend the appropriate use of those instruments with
those children, and may make recommendations regarding future research to
improve the measurement of progress of children who are deaf and hard of hearing
in language and literacy.
(10)
By July 1, 2023, and by July 1 of each year thereafter, the department shall
produce a report, using existing data reported in compliance with the federally
required state performance plan, on students with disabilities that is specific
to the language and literacy development of children who are deaf and hard of hearing
children and are age 5 or younger as compared to their peers. The department
shall make this report available on its website homepage.
(11)
All activities of the department in implementing this section must be consistent
with federal law regarding the education of children with disabilities.
(12)
This section applies only to children who are age 5 or younger.
(13)
The legislature shall appropriate sufficient funding for the purposes of this
section.
(14)
As used in this section:
(a)
"English" includes spoken English, written English, or English
communicated with or without the use of a mode of communication.
(b)
"Individualized education program" means that term as defined in section
1414 of the individuals with disabilities education act, 20 USC 1414.
(c)
"Individualized family service plan" means that term as defined in section
1436 of the individuals with disabilities education act, 20 USC 1436.
(d)
"Language" includes, but is not limited to, American Sign Language
and English.
(e)
"Language developmental milestones" means milestones of development
aligned with existing state instruments used to meet the requirements of
federal law for the assessment of a child who is age 5 or younger.
(i) Augmentative and alternative communication.
(ii) Cued speech.
(iii) Listening and spoken language.
(iv) Tactile signing.
(v) Total communication.
(vi) Any other appropriate mode of communication.
(vii) A combination of any of the above.