NY State Senate Bill 2019-S2675

Senate Bill S2675

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Requires the certification or training of teachers, administrators and instructors in the area of dyslexia and related disorders

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Education Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2020	referred to education
Jan 28, 2019	referred to education

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2019-S2675 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Education
Law Section:: Education Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§3004 & 4402, Ed L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2011-2012: S7797
2013-2014: S2496
2015-2016: S5439
2017-2018: S2534
2021-2022: S1285

2019-S2675 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires the certification or training of teachers, administrators and instructors in the area of dyslexia and related disorders.

2019-S2675 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S2675

SPONSOR: BROOKS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to the certification or
training of teachers, administrators and instructors in the area of
dyslexia and related disorders

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this bill is to require school districts to diagnose
students as having dyslexia, to acknowledge the diagnosis on their Indi-
vidual Education Plans (IEP), and to provide dyslexic students with
teachers trained to instruct such students.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. of this bill amends section 3004 of the Education Law to
authorize the commissioner of education to certify or require training
of teachers and school administrators in the area of dyslexia and

related disorders. The section also provides a definition of dyslexia.

Section 2. amends section 4402 of the Education Law to provide that if a
committee or subcommittee of special education believes that a student
may have dyslexia, the student must be sent to an evaluation for dysle-
xia or related learning disorder.

Section 3. amends section 4402 of the Education Law to provide that if a
student is determined to have dyslexia, the recommendations on programs
or placement for the student must be made by a team that is knowledge-
able in instructing children with dyslexia.

Section 4. amends section 4402 of the Education Law to require a school
district to provide a teacher trained in dyslexia to any student who has
been determined to have dyslexia or related learning disorder.

Section 5. is the enacting clause

 
JUSTIFICATION:

About 85% of children with learning disabilities have dyslexia making it
the most prevalent learning disability in children. Yet, most parents,
teachers, and administrators have trouble recognizing its symptoms. The
key to overcoming this disability is to pinpoint the disability early so
that these children can become proficient readers and do not fall behind
their peers. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 20
USC 1400, et seq. classifies children with disabilities according to a
broad scheme of 13 categories, one of which is "learning disability."
However, because of the way New York's state education law has been
written and implemented, currently students with dyslexia are broadly
classified as "learning disabled," and school districts have interpreted
this as a prohibition on the use of the words "dyslexia (reading disa-
bility)," "dysgraphia" (graphomotor disability), and "dyscalculia" (math
disability). This has in turn caused schools to implement costly and
usually ineffective interventions which do not address the key issues
for students with dyslexia. Recent guidance from the U.S. Department of
education has confirmed that while there is evidence that "State and
local education agencies (SEAs and LEAs) are reluctant to reference or
use dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia in evaluations, eligibility
determinations, or in developing the individualized education program
(IEP) under the IDEA.  The purpose of this guidance is to clarify that
there is nothing in the IDEA that would prohibit the use of the terms
dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia in IDEA evaluation. Eligibility
determinations or IEP documents." This bill would codify the intent of
this federal guidance.

This legislation will improve school conditions so that children with
dyslexia and related learning disabilities can have an equal opportunity
to learn and become college and career ready.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have
become a law, provided that the amendments to subclause (i) of clause
(b) of subparagraph 3 of paragraph b of subdivision 1 of section 4402 of
the education law made by section two of this act shall be subject to
the expiration and reversion of such clause pursuant to section 22 of
chapter 352 of the laws of 2005, as amended, and subdivision d of
section 27 of chapter 378 of the laws of 2007, as amended, when upon
such date the provisions of section three of this act shall take effect.

2019-S2675 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2675
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 28, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  BROOKS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the  certification  or
   training  of  teachers,  administrators and instructors in the area of
   dyslexia and related disorders

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Section  3004 of the education law is amended by adding a
 new subdivision 7 to read as follows:
   7. A.  NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF LAW, THE COMMISSIONER IS
 AUTHORIZED AND EMPOWERED TO CERTIFY OR  REQUIRE  TRAINING  OF  TEACHERS,
 ADMINISTRATORS  AND  INSTRUCTORS IN THE AREA OF DYSLEXIA AND ITS RELATED
 DISORDERS. THE COMMISSIONER SHALL HAVE THE POWER TO PRESCRIBE THE NECES-
 SARY REGULATIONS AND ESTABLISH SUCH PROGRAMS AND TRAINING RELATED TO THE
 NEEDS OF CHILDREN WITH DYSLEXIA OR A RELATED DISORDER. SUCH PROGRAMS AND
 TRAINING SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO, SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION  OF
 SUFFICIENT  HOURS  OF  COURSEWORK AND SUPERVISED CLINICAL EXPERIENCE, AS
 DETERMINED BY THE COMMISSIONER TO BE EVIDENCE-BASED EFFECTIVE  PROGRAMS,
 SUCH  AS  MULTISENSORY  STRUCTURED  LANGUAGE  EDUCATION OR OTHER SIMILAR
 EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR TEACHING CHILDREN AT RISK FOR BEING, OR DIAGNOSED
 AS, DYSLEXIC OR A RELATED DISORDER. SUCH PROGRAMS  OR  TRAINING  MAY  BE
 OBTAINED  FROM AN INSTITUTION OR PROVIDER WHICH HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE
 DEPARTMENT TO PROVIDE SUCH PROGRAMS AND TRAINING.
   B. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, THE TERM "DYSLEXIA" SHALL MEAN  A
 SPECIFIC  LEARNING  DISORDER  THAT IS NEUROLOGICAL IN ORIGIN AND THAT IS
 CHARACTERIZED BY UNEXPECTED DIFFICULTIES WITH ACCURATE  OR  FLUENT  WORD
 RECOGNITION  AND  BY POOR SPELLING AND DECODING ABILITIES NOT CONSISTENT
 WITH THE PERSON'S INTELLIGENCE, MOTIVATION,  AND  SENSORY  CAPABILITIES,
 WHICH  DIFFICULTIES  TYPICALLY RESULT FROM A DEFICIT IN THE PHONOLOGICAL
 COMPONENT OF LANGUAGE.
   § 2. Clause (a) and subclause (i) of clause (b) of subparagraph  3  of
 paragraph  b  of  subdivision  1  of  section 4402 of the education law,
 clause (a) as amended by chapter 53 of the laws of  1991  and  subclause

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD05494-01-9

 S. 2675                             2
 
 (i)  of  clause  (b)  as amended by chapter 378 of the laws of 2007, are
 amended to read as follows:
   (a)  Obtain,  review  and evaluate all relevant information, including
 but not limited to that presented by  the  parent,  person  in  parental
 relationship  and teacher, pertinent to each child suspected of or iden-
 tified as having a handicapping condition, including the  results  of  a
 physical  examination performed in accordance with sections nine hundred
 three, nine hundred four and nine hundred  five  of  this  chapter  and,
 where  determined to be necessary by a school psychologist, an appropri-
 ate psychological evaluation performed by a qualified private or  school
 psychologist,  and  other appropriate assessments as necessary to ascer-
 tain the physical, mental, emotional  and  cultural-educational  factors
 which  may contribute to the suspected or identified handicapping condi-
 tion, and all other school data which  bear  on  the  child's  progress,
 including,  where appropriate, observation of classroom performance.  IF
 THE COMMITTEE OR SUBCOMMITTEE HAS REASON TO BELIEVE THAT  THE  HANDICAP-
 PING CONDITION MAY INVOLVE DYSLEXIA, AS DEFINED IN PARAGRAPH B OF SUBDI-
 VISION  SEVEN  OF  SECTION  THREE  THOUSAND  FOUR  OF THIS CHAPTER, OR A
 RELATED DISORDER, THE CHILD SHALL BE EVALUATED AND TESTED  ACCORDING  TO
 CURRENT  SCIENTIFIC  UNDERSTANDING  OF DYSLEXIA TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE
 CHILD HAS DYSLEXIA OR A RELATED DISORDER.
   (i) Make recommendations based upon a written evaluation setting forth
 the reasons for the recommendations, to the child's parent or person  in
 parental  relation  and board of education or trustees as to appropriate
 educational programs and placement in accordance with the provisions  of
 subdivision six of section forty-four hundred one-a of this article, and
 as  to the advisability of continuation, modification, or termination of
 special class or program placements which evaluation shall be  furnished
 to  the  child's parent or person in parental relation together with the
 recommendations provided, however that the  committee  may  recommend  a
 placement  in a school which uses psychotropic drugs only if such school
 has a written policy pertaining to such  use  that  is  consistent  with
 subdivision  four-a  of section thirty-two hundred eight of this chapter
 and that the parent or person in parental relation is given such written
 policy at the time such recommendation is made.  IF THE CHILD IS  DETER-
 MINED  TO  HAVE DYSLEXIA, AS DEFINED IN PARAGRAPH B OF SUBDIVISION SEVEN
 OF SECTION THREE THOUSAND FOUR OF THIS CHAPTER, OR A  RELATED  DISORDER,
 THE RECOMMENDATIONS SHALL BE MADE BY THE INDIVIDUAL EDUCATIONAL PLANNING
 TEAM, WHICH SHALL BE KNOWLEDGEABLE IN THE CURRENT SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTAND-
 ING  OF  DYSLEXIA, INCLUDING THE INSTRUCTIONAL COMPONENTS AND APPROACHES
 FOR STUDENTS WITH DYSLEXIA. If such recommendation is not acceptable  to
 the  parent  or  person  in  parental relation, such parent or person in
 parental relation may appeal such  recommendation  as  provided  for  in
 section forty-four hundred four of this [chapter] ARTICLE.
   §  3.  Clause (b) of subparagraph 3 of paragraph b of subdivision 1 of
 section 4402 of the education law, as amended by chapter 716 of the laws
 of 1991, is amended to read as follows:
   (b) Make recommendations based upon a written evaluation setting forth
 the reasons for the recommendations, to the child's parent or person  in
 parental relationship and board of education or trustees as to appropri-
 ate educational programs and placement in accordance with the provisions
 of  subdivision six of section forty-four hundred one-a of this article,
 and as to the advisability of continuation, modification, or termination
 of special  class  or  program  placements  which  evaluation  shall  be
 furnished  to  the  child's  parent  or  person in parental relationship
 together with the recommendations provided, however that  the  committee

 S. 2675                             3
 
 may recommend a placement in a school which uses psychotropic drugs only
 if  such school has a written policy pertaining to such use and that the
 parent or person in parental relationship is given such  written  policy
 at  the time such recommendation is made.  IF THE CHILD IS DETERMINED TO
 HAVE DYSLEXIA, AS DEFINED IN PARAGRAPH B OF SUBDIVISION SEVEN OF SECTION
 THREE THOUSAND FOUR OF THIS CHAPTER, OR A RELATED DISORDER,  THE  RECOM-
 MENDATIONS  SHALL  BE  MADE BY THE INDIVIDUAL EDUCATIONAL PLANNING TEAM,
 WHICH  SHALL  BE  KNOWLEDGEABLE  IN  THE  INSTRUCTIONAL  COMPONENTS  AND
 APPROACHES  FOR  STUDENTS  WITH  DYSLEXIA. If such recommendation is not
 acceptable to the parent or person in parental relationship, such parent
 or person in parental relationship may  appeal  such  recommendation  as
 provided  for in section forty-four hundred four of this [chapter] ARTI-
 CLE.
   § 4. Paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section  4402  of  the  education
 law,  as  amended by section 16-a of part A of chapter 56 of the laws of
 2014, is amended to read as follows:
   a. The board of education or trustees of each school district shall be
 required to furnish suitable educational opportunities for students with
 disabilities by one of the special services or programs listed in subdi-
 vision two of section forty-four hundred one of this article.  The  need
 of  the individual child shall determine which of such services shall be
 rendered.  IF THE STUDENT IS A STUDENT WITH DYSLEXIA OR A RELATED DISOR-
 DER, THE DISTRICT SHALL BE REQUIRED  TO  PROVIDE  TO  SUCH  STUDENT  THE
 SERVICES  OF  A  TEACHER  OR  INSTRUCTOR TRAINED IN DYSLEXIA AND RELATED
 DISORDERS PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION SEVEN OF SECTION THREE  THOUSAND  FOUR
 OF  THIS  CHAPTER.  Each  district  shall  provide to the maximum extent
 appropriate such services in a manner which enables students with  disa-
 bilities  to participate in regular education services when appropriate.
 Such services or programs shall  be  furnished  between  the  months  of
 September  and  June  of each year, except that for the nineteen hundred
 eighty-seven--eighty-eight school year and thereafter, with  respect  to
 the  students  whose  disabilities are severe enough to exhibit the need
 for a structured learning environment of twelve months duration to main-
 tain developmental levels, the board of education or  trustees  of  each
 school  district  upon  the  recommendation  of the committee on special
 education shall also provide, either directly or by  contract,  for  the
 provision  of special services and programs as defined in section forty-
 four hundred one of this article during the months of July and August as
 contained in the individualized  education  program  for  each  eligible
 student,  and  with  prior  approval  by  the  commissioner if required;
 provided that a student with a disability who is eligible for  services,
 including  services  during  the  months of July and August, pursuant to
 section forty-four hundred ten of this article shall not be eligible  to
 receive  services  pursuant  to this paragraph during the months of July
 and August.
   § 5. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
 have  become  a  law,  provided  that the amendments to subclause (i) of
 clause (b) of subparagraph 3 of paragraph b of subdivision 1 of  section
 4402  of  the  education  law  made  by section two of this act shall be
 subject to the expiration and  reversion  of  such  clause  pursuant  to
 section  22 of chapter 352 of the laws of 2005, as amended, and subdivi-
 sion d of section 27 of chapter 378 of the laws  of  2007,  as  amended,
 when  upon  such  date the provisions of section three of this act shall
 take effect.

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