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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1959 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3943
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Brian M. Ashe
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act ensuring language readiness in deaf, deafblind, and hard-of-hearing children entering
kindergarten.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Brian M. Ashe2nd Hampden1/19/2023 1 of 10
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1959 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3943
By Representative Ashe of Longmeadow, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3943) of
Brian M. Ashe relative to the language readiness of deaf, deafblind, and hard-of-hearing children
entering kindergarten. Education.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
_______________
An Act ensuring language readiness in deaf, deafblind, and hard-of-hearing children entering
kindergarten.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Chapter 69 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
2section 1T the following section:
3 Section 1U. (a) For the purposes of this section the following terms shall, unless the
4context requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-
5 “504 plan”, and individualized education plan authorized by section 504 of the Federal
6Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
7 “ASL”, American Sign Language.
8 “IEP”, an individualized education program authorized by the Federal Individuals with
9Disabilities Education Act. 2 of 10
10 “IFSP”, an individualized family service plan authorized by the Federal Individuals with
11Disabilities Education Act.
12 “Language developmental milestones”, are milestones of development aligned with the
13existing state standard used to meet the requirements of federal law for the language assessment,
14to be determined by the work group, of children from birth to age 6, inclusive.
15 “Language” any language in American Sign Language or English.
16 “English”, spoken English, written English or English with the use of visual supplements
17as specified in Definition (a)(4).
18 “Total Communication”, the methodology of spoken English and the use of sign
19language simultaneously.
20 “Language Readiness Services”, to provide an accessible language such as visual or
21spoken to build a language rich environment to interact, to play, to share a focus, and to take
22turns.
23 For the purposes of developing and using language as defined in subsection (c)(2), for a
24child who is deaf, deafblind or hard-of-hearing the milestones and assessments will be focused
25on American Sign Language or English. There are other modalities that would support the
26acquisition of language that would support the learning of English and ASL. Recognition of
27heritage language shall be honored and supported.
28 (b) The commission of the deaf and hard of hearing, working with the department of
29public health and the department of elementary and secondary education, shall: 3 of 10
30 (i) jointly select language development milestones from existing standardized norms
31pursuant to the process specified in subsection (f):
32 (ii) develop a resource for use by parents to monitor and select assessments to track deaf,
33deafblind and hard-of-hearing children’s expressive and receptive language acquisition and
34developmental stages toward English literacy regardless of services received:
35 (iii) publish annually a joint report of disaggregate data based on demographics, services
36received and language modality; and
37 (iv) address systemic processes and gaps for deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing children
38ages 0 through 6.
39 (c) The parent resource required by paragraph (ii) of subsection (b) shall be made
40available in any language and shall:
41 (i) include the language developmental milestones selected pursuant to the process
42described in subsection (f);
43 (ii) be appropriate for use, in both content and administration, with deaf, deafblind, and
44hard-of-hearing children from birth to age 6, inclusive, who use ASL, English or both languages;
45 (iii) present the developmental milestones in terms of typical development of all children,
46by age range;
47 (iv) be written for clarity and ease of use by parents; 4 of 10
48 (v) be aligned with the departments’ existing infant, toddler and preschool guidelines, the
49existing instrument used to assess the development of children with disabilities pursuant to
50federal law and state standards in ASL and English language arts;
51 (vi) provide acquisition and development milestones that meet current developmental
52standards for non-deaf children.
53 (vii) make clear the parent resource is not a formal assessment of language and literacy
54development and that a parent’s observations of their children may differ from formal
55assessment data presented in an IFSP or IEP meeting or a 504 plan;
56 (viii) emphasize the importance of placing the child on an IFSP, IEP or 504 plan and
57make clear that a parent may bring the parent resource to an IFSP, IEP or 504 plan meeting for
58purposes of sharing their observations about their child’s development; and
59 (ix) include fair, balanced and comprehensive information about language and
60communication modes as well as available services and programs.
61 (d) The department of public health and the department shall select existing tools and for
62educators that can be used to assess the language and literacy development of deaf, deafblind and
63hard-of-hearing children. These educator tools or assessments shall:
64 (i) be in a format that shows stages of language development;
65 (ii) be selected for use by educators to track the development of deaf, deafblind and hard-
66of-hearing children’s expressive and receptive language acquisition and developmental stages
67toward English literacy; 5 of 10
68 (iii) be selected from applicable existing instruments, tools or assessments used to assess
69the development of all children from birth to age 6, inclusive.
70 (iv) be appropriate, in both content and administration, for use with deaf, deafblind and
71hard-of-hearing children.
72 (v) be used, in addition to the assessment required by federal law, by the child’s IFSP,
73IEP or 504 plan team, as applicable, to track deaf, deafblind and hard-of-hearing children’s
74progress and to establish or modify IFSP, IEP or 504 plans. A parent of a child who is deaf,
75deafblind or hard of hearing may opt the child out of the annual assessment. To opt out of an
76annual assessment required under this section, a parent of a child who is deaf, deafblind or hard
77of hearing must provide, in writing, to the local educational agency the parent’s intent to opt out
78of the annual assessment for the child; and
79 (vi) reflect the recommendations of the committee on kindergarten readiness established
80pursuant to subsection (g).
81 (e) (1) The departments shall disseminate the parent resource developed pursuant to
82subsection (b) to parents and guardians of deaf, deafblind and hard-of-hearing children and,
83 pursuant to federal law, shall disseminate the educator tools and assessments selected
84pursuant to subsection (d) to local educational agencies for use in the development and
85modification of IFSP, IEP and 504 plans and shall provide technical assistance on its use to assist
86deaf, deafblind and hard-of-hearing children in becoming linguistically ready for kindergarten
87 (2) If a deaf, deafblind or hard-of-hearing child does not demonstrate progress in
88expressive and receptive language skills as measured by one of the educator instruments, tools or 6 of 10
89assessments selected pursuant to subsection (d), or by the existing instrument used to assess the
90development of children with disabilities pursuant to federal law, the child’s IFSP, IEP or 504
91plan team, as applicable, shall, as part of the process required by federal law, explain in detail the
92reasons why the child is not meeting the language developmental milestones or progressing
93toward them and shall recommend specific strategies, services and programs that shall be
94provided to assist the child’s success toward English literacy.
95 (f) (1) On or before March 1, 2024, the Massachusetts commission for the deaf and hard
96of hearing along with the department and the department of public health shall provide the
97committee on kindergarten readiness established pursuant to subsection (g) with a list of existing
98language developmental milestones from existing standardized norms and any relevant
99information held by the departments regarding those language developmental milestones for
100possible inclusion in the parent resource developed pursuant to subsection (b). The language
101developmental milestones shall be aligned to the department’s existing infant, toddler and
102preschool guidelines, the existing instrument used to assess the development of children with
103disabilities pursuant to federal law and the state standards in English language arts.
104 (2) On or before June 1, 2024, the committee on kindergarten readiness shall recommend
105language developmental milestones for selection pursuant to subsection (b).
106 (3) On or before June 30, 2024, the departments shall inform the committee on
107kindergarten readiness of the language developmental milestones selected pursuant to paragraph
108(1).
109 (g) (1) The commission of deaf and hard of hearing shall work with the department of
110public health and the department of elementary and secondary education to appoint a full 7 of 10
111standing committee, hereafter referred to as the committee on kindergarten readiness, for
112purposes of supporting all deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing children’s language and education
113needs including the selection of language developmental milestones for deaf, deafblind and hard
114of hearing children that are equivalent to those for children who are not deaf, deafblind and hard
115of hearing for inclusion in the parent resource developed pursuant to subsection (b).
116 (2) The committee on kindergarten readiness may make recommendations on the
117selection and administration of the educator tools or assessments selected pursuant to subsection
118(d). The committee on kindergarten readiness may make recommendations on the materials to
119add to the parent resource; provided, that any such recommended materials are unbiased and
120comprehensive. The committee shall review the annual joint report to be produced by the
121department and department of public health using disaggregated data that considers the language
122and English literacy development of children who are 6 years of age and under, deaf, deafblind
123and hard of hearing; in relation to the age appropriate milestones of their peers who are not deaf
124or hard of hearing by July 1, 2024, and every year thereafter. The committee shall address
125systemic processes and address gaps of deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing children between the
126ages of 0 and 6 in any recommendations made pursuant to this paragraph.
127 (3) The committee on kindergarten readiness shall consist of 18 individuals who have an
128expertise in, and knowledge of, issues concerning the education of children, the majority of
129 whom shall be deaf, deafblind or hard-of-hearing. The committee on kindergarten
130readiness shall have a balance of members who use ASL and English in a personal or
131professional context and members who use only spoken English in a personal or professional 8 of 10
132context. The committee on kindergarten readiness shall be comprised of the following voting
133members:
134 (i) 1 parent of a child who is deaf or hard-of-hearing who uses the dual languages of ASL
135and English;
136 (ii) 1 parent of a child who is deaf or hard-of-hearing who uses only spoken English and
137who may use visual supplements;
138 (iii) 1 expert who researches language outcomes for deaf, deafblind and hard-of-hearing
139children using ASL and English;
140 (iv) 1 expert who researches language outcomes for deaf, deafblind and hard-of-hearing
141children using spoken English and who may use visual supplements;
142 (v) 1 early intervention specialist who works with deaf and hard-of-hearing infants and
143toddlers using the dual languages of ASL and English;
144 (vi) 1 teacher of the deaf and hard-of-hearing who is licensed in the area of ASL or Total
145Communication whose expertise is in ASL and English language assessment.
146 (vii) 1 speech pathologist of spoken English who may use visual supplements and who
147has expertise in assessment of English language.
148 A representative from each of the following agencies or committees, as determined by the
149agency head or committee chair, shall serve as non-voting members of the committee:
150 (i) Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Program; 9 of 10
151 (ii) 4 special service programs for the deaf and hard-of-hearing; provided, that the
152representatives of such special service programs shall be service providers who serve diverse
153populations and who do not practice in the same location as the other special service program
154representatives; and
155 (iii) Massachusetts State Association of the Deaf, Inc.
156 (h) The committee on kindergarten readiness established pursuant to subsection (g) may
157advise the department and the department of public health on the content and administration of
158the existing instrument used to assess the development of children with disabilities pursuant to
159federal law and as used to assess and track deaf, deafblind and hard-of-hearing children’s
160language and literacy development to ensure the appropriate use of that instrument with those
161children. The committee may make recommendations regarding future research to improve the
162measurement of progress of deaf, deafblind and hard-of-hearing children in language and
163literacy.
164 (i) Commencing on or before July 31, 2024, and on or before each July 31 thereafter, the
165department and the department of public health shall annually produce a joint report on the
166language and literacy development of deaf, deafblind and hard-of-hearing children from birth to
1676 years of age, inclusive, including those who are deaf, deafblind or hard-of-hearing and have
168other disabilities, relative to their peers who are not deaf, deafblind or hard-of-hearing. The
169report shall be based on disaggregated data reported in compliance with the federally required
170state performance plan on pupils with disabilities. The disaggregated data should include
171geographical data, race, services received, and language modality. The department and the
172department of public health shall make this report available on their respective Internet websites. 10 of 10
173 (j) All activities of the departments in implementing this section shall be consistent with
174federal law regarding the education of children with disabilities and federal law regarding the
175privacy of pupil information.
176 (k) This section shall apply only to children from birth to age 6, inclusive.
177 SECTION 2. Section 1 of chapter 111G of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
178Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the definition of “Early intervention services”
179and inserting in place thereof the following definition:- “Early intervention services”, services
180provided to children and the families of children, who are between birth and three years of age
181and who have identified handicapping conditions or who are at risk for developmental delays due
182to biological, established, or environmental factors. Such services are for the purpose of
183minimizing the potential for developmental delay and for preventing the institutionalization of
184such children and shall be developmental services, including but not limited to speech,
185occupational and physical therapy, social work, psychological, educational, and nursing services.
186Early intervention services shall include language readiness services provided pursuant to section
1871U of chapter 69.
188 SECTION 3. Section 2 of said chapter 111G, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
189adding the following paragraph: -
190 The department shall, in coordination with the department of elementary and secondary
191education, develop and promulgate uniform rules and regulations for the provision of language
192readiness services provided pursuant to section 1U of chapter 69.