WEST virginia Legislature

2018 regular session

Introduced

House Bill 4223

By Delegates Rowan, Rohrbach, R. Romine, Wagner, Cooper, Ambler, Moye and Kelly

[Introduced January 19, 2018; Referred
to the Committee on Education.]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §16-1-20, relating to selection of language developmental milestones to develop a resource for use by parents to monitor and track deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s receptive and expressive language acquisition in the language(s) and communication mode chosen by the parents, and developmental stages toward English literacy.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 1. STATE PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM.

§16-1-20. Selection of early language developmental milestones to develop a resource for use by families to monitor and track deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s early expressive and receptive language acquisition and developmental stages toward English literacy in the mode of communication and language(s) selected by the parent/guardian.

(a) The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (hereinafter the department) through its agencies that serve children ages birth to three shall jointly select language developmental milestones from existing standardized norms, pursuant to the process specified in subsection (d) of this section, to develop a family resource for use by families, providers, early interventionists, speech pathologists, educators, and other service providers to determine and track deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s receptive and expressive language acquisition and progress toward English literacy development. This family resource shall include at a minimum:

(1) Language that provides familial choice of communication mode;

(2) The language developmental milestones selected pursuant to the process specified in subsection (d) of this section;

(3) Developmental milestones in terms of typical development of all children, by age range;

(4) Be written for clarity and ease of use by families;

(5) Be aligned with the department’s existing guidelines used to assess the development of children with disabilities pursuant to federal law, and state standards in language and literacy;

(6) Make clear that the family resource is not a formal assessment of language and literacy development, and that a family’s observations of their children may differ from formal assessment data presented at an individualized family service plan meeting; and

(7) Make clear that the family resource may be used during an individualized family service plan meeting for purposes of sharing the family’s observations about their child’s development.

(b) The department shall also prepare a list of valid and reliable existing tools or assessments for providers, early interventionists, speech pathologists, educators, and other service providers that can be used periodically to determine the receptive and expressive language and literacy development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children. These educator tools and assessments:

(1) Shall be used by providers, early interventionists, speech pathologists, educators, and other service providers to determine the progressing development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s receptive and expressive language acquisition and developmental stages toward English literacy;

(2) Shall be appropriate, in both content and administration, for use with children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing;

(3) May be used, in addition to the assessment required by federal law, by the individualized family service plan team, as applicable, to track deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s progress, and to establish or modify individualized family service plan plans; and

(4) May reflect the recommendations of the advisory committee established pursuant to subsections (e) and (f) of this section.

(c) In promoting the intent of this section, the department shall:

(1) Disseminate the family resource developed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section to families of deaf and hard-of-hearing children, as well as providers, early interventionists, speech pathologists, educators, and related service personnel; and

(2) Provide informational materials, identify ASL mentors and professional learning opportunities for the providers, early interventionists, speech pathologists, educators, and other  service providers on the use of the resources, tools, and assessments to assist deaf and hard-of-hearing children in becoming linguistically ready for formal school entry (either itinerant services, West Virginia Universal PreK/PreK Special Needs, or Kindergarten) using the mode(s) of communication and language(s) chosen by the parents.

(d)(1) If a deaf or hard-of-hearing child does not demonstrate progress in receptive and expressive language skills, as measured by one of the educator tools or assessments selected pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, or by the existing instrument used to assess the development of children with disabilities pursuant to federal law, the child’s individualized family service plan team, as applicable, shall, as part of the process required by federal law, explain in detail the reasons why the child is not meeting the language developmental milestones or progressing towards them, and shall recommend specific strategies, services, and programs that shall be provided to assist the child’s success toward English literacy development.

(2) The department shall provide the advisory committee established pursuant to subsections (e) and (f) of this section with a list of existing language developmental milestones from existing standardized norms, along with any relevant information held by the department regarding those language developmental milestones for possible inclusion in the family resource developed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section.

(3) After reviewing, the advisory committee shall recommend to the department language developmental milestones for selection pursuant to subsection (a) of this section.

(e) The department shall establish an advisory committee to solicit input from stakeholders identified herein on the selection of language developmental milestones for children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing that are equivalent to those for children who are not deaf or hard-of-hearing, for inclusion in the family resource developed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section.

(f) The advisory committee shall be comprised of volunteer individuals representing all known modes of communication, specifically including the following:

(1) One parent of a child who is hard-of-hearing who uses the dual languages of American Sign Language and English;

(2) One parent of a child who is deaf or hard-of-hearing who uses assistive technology to communicate with spoken English;

(3) Two credentialed providers, early interventionists, speech pathologists, educators, or other service providers of deaf or hard-of-hearing children who are knowledgeable in the use of the dual languages of English and American Sign Languages;

(4) Two credentialed providers, early interventionists, speech pathologists, educators, or other service provider of deaf or hard-of-hearing children who are knowledgeable in the use of assistive technology to communicate with spoken English;

(5) One expert who researches or is knowledgeable in the research regarding language outcomes for deaf and hard-of-hearing children using American Sign Language or English;

(6) One expert who researches or is knowledgeable in the research regarding language outcomes for deaf and hard-of-hearing children using assistive technology to communicate with spoken English;

(g)(1) The advisory committee may advise the department on the content and administration of instruments used to assess the development of children with disabilities pursuant to federal law, as used to assess deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s language and literacy development to ensure the appropriate use of that instrument with those children, and may make recommendations regarding future research needed to improve the measurement of progress of deaf and hard-of-hearing children in language and literacy.

(2) For the purpose of this section, the term “language developmental milestones” means milestones of development aligned with existing norms.

(h) This section applies only to children from birth to three years of age, inclusive.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to develop a resource families can use to monitor and track deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s early language acquisition and expression, and developmental stages toward English literacy.

 Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.