Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1413 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	86R4402 MP-F
2	2	By: González of El Paso H.B. No. 1413
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the language acquisition of children eight years of age
8	8	or younger who are deaf or hard of hearing.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. The legislature finds that children who are deaf
11	11	or hard of hearing are often at risk for language delay or
12	12	deprivation. Research indicates that there is limited success in
13	13	addressing these issues after the optimal period for language
14	14	acquisition. It is critical that the language acquisition of
15	15	children who are deaf or hard of hearing is closely monitored from
16	16	birth through age eight to enable the use of timely interventions
17	17	that support age-appropriate language skills. Therefore, the
18	18	purpose of this Act is to generate and monitor data on the language
19	19	acquisition of children eight years of age or younger who are deaf
20	20	or hard of hearing by:
21	21	(1) identifying language assessment protocols that
22	22	are appropriate for the development and age of each child; and
23	23	(2) annually gathering and publishing relevant data.
24	24	SECTION 2. Subchapter I, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
25	25	amended by adding Section 29.316 to read as follows:
26	26	Sec. 29.316. LANGUAGE ACQUISITION. (a) In this section:
27	27	(1) "Center" means the Educational Resource Center on
28	28	Deafness at the Texas School for the Deaf.
29	29	(2) "Division" means the Division for Early Childhood
30	30	Intervention Services of the Health and Human Services Commission.
31	31	(3) "Language acquisition" includes expressive and
32	32	receptive language acquisition and literacy development in
33	33	English, American Sign Language, or both, or, if applicable, in
34	34	another language primarily used by a child's parent or guardian,
35	35	and is separate from any modality used to communicate in the
36	36	applicable language or languages.
37	37	(b) The commissioner and the executive commissioner of the
38	38	Health and Human Services Commission jointly shall ensure that the
39	39	language acquisition of each child eight years of age or younger who
40	40	is deaf or hard of hearing is regularly assessed using a tool or
41	41	assessment determined to be valid and reliable as provided by
42	42	Subsection (e).
43	43	(c) Not later than July 31 of each year, the agency, the
44	44	division, and the center jointly shall prepare and post on the
45	45	agency's, the division's, and the center's respective Internet
46	46	websites a report on the language acquisition of children eight
47	47	years of age or younger who are deaf or hard of hearing. The report
48	48	must:
49	49	(1) include:
50	50	(A) existing data reported in compliance with
51	51	federal law regarding children with disabilities; and
52	52	(B) information relating to the language
53	53	acquisition of children who are deaf or hard of hearing and also
54	54	have other disabilities;
55	55	(2) state for each child:
56	56	(A) the instructional arrangement used with the
57	57	child, as described by Section 42.151, including the time the child
58	58	spends in a mainstream instructional arrangement;
59	59	(B) the specific language acquisition services
60	60	provided to the child, including:
61	61	(i) the time spent providing those
62	62	services; and
63	63	(ii) a description of any hearing
64	64	amplification used in the delivery of those services, including:
65	65	(a) the type of hearing amplification
66	66	used;
67	67	(b) the period of time in which the
68	68	child has had access to the hearing amplification; and
69	69	(c) the average amount of time the
70	70	child uses the hearing amplification each day;
71	71	(C) the tools or assessments used to assess the
72	72	child's language acquisition and the results obtained;
73	73	(D) the preferred unique communication mode used
74	74	by the child at home; and
75	75	(E) the child's age, race, and gender, the age at
76	76	which the child was identified as being deaf or hard of hearing, and
77	77	any other relevant demographic information the commissioner
78	78	determines to likely be correlated with or have an impact on the
79	79	child's language acquisition;
80	80	(3) compare progress in English literacy made by
81	81	children who are deaf or hard of hearing to progress in that subject
82	82	made by children of the same age who are not deaf or hard of hearing,
83	83	by appropriate age range; and
84	84	(4) be redacted as necessary to comply with state and
85	85	federal law regarding the confidentiality of student medical or
86	86	educational information.
87	87	(d) In preparing the report under Subsection (c), the
88	88	agency, the division, and the center may request from a private
89	89	school in this state in which a child eight years of age or younger
90	90	who is deaf or hard of hearing is enrolled any information described
91	91	by that subsection regarding the child. If the private school
92	92	provides the requested information, the school must do so in a
93	93	manner that complies with state and federal law regarding the
94	94	confidentiality of student medical or educational information.
95	95	(e) The commissioner, the executive commissioner of the
96	96	Health and Human Services Commission, and the center shall enter
97	97	into a memorandum of understanding regarding:
98	98	(1) the identification of experts in deaf education;
99	99	and
100	100	(2) the determination, in consultation with those
101	101	experts, of the tools and assessments that are valid and reliable,
102	102	in both content and administration, for use in assessing the
103	103	language acquisition of children eight years of age or younger who
104	104	are deaf or hard of hearing.
105	105	(f) The commissioner and the executive commissioner of the
106	106	Health and Human Services Commission jointly shall adopt rules as
107	107	necessary to implement this section, including rules for:
108	108	(1) assigning each child eight years of age or younger
109	109	who is deaf or hard of hearing a unique identification number for
110	110	purposes of the report required under Subsection (c) and to enable
111	111	the tracking of the child's language acquisition, and factors
112	112	affecting the child's language acquisition, over time; and
113	113	(2) implementing this section in a manner that
114	114	complies with federal law regarding confidentiality of student
115	115	medical or educational information, including the Health Insurance
116	116	Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. Section 1320d
117	117	et seq.) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
118	118	(20 U.S.C. Section 1232g), and any state law relating to the privacy
119	119	of student information.
120	120	SECTION 3. (a) In this section:
121	121	(1) "Agency" means the Texas Education Agency.
122	122	(2) "Center" means the Educational Resource Center on
123	123	Deafness at the Texas School for the Deaf.
124	124	(3) "Division" means the Division for Early Childhood
125	125	Intervention Services of the Health and Human Services Commission.
126	126	(b) Not later than December 1, 2019, the commissioner of
127	127	education, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human
128	128	Services Commission, and the center jointly shall determine the
129	129	tools and assessments that are valid and reliable for use in
130	130	assessing the language acquisition of children eight years of age
131	131	or younger who are deaf or hard of hearing as required under Section
132	132	29.316(e), Education Code, as added by this Act.
133	133	(c) Not later than July 1, 2020, the agency, the division,
134	134	and the center jointly shall prepare and post on the agency's,
135	135	division's, and center's respective Internet websites the initial
136	136	report required under Section 29.316(c), Education Code, as added
137	137	by this Act.
138	138	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
139	139	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
140	140	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
141	141	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
142	142	Act takes effect September 1, 2019.