SECTION 1 Chapter 69 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 1Q the following section:

SECTION 1R:

(a) Definitions:

(i) For the purpose of this section, the term “language developmental milestones” means milestones of development aligned with the existing state instrument used to meet the requirements of federal law for the assessment of children from birth to 5 years of age, inclusive.

(ii) For the purposes of this section, the term “language” includes American Sign Language and English.

(iii) For purposes of this section, “English” includes spoken English, written English, or English with or without the use of visual supplements as specified in Definition (a)(4).

(iv) For the purposes of developing and using language as defined in subsection (b)(2), for a child who is deaf or hard-of-hearing the following modes of communication may be used as a means for acquiring language: ASL services; spoken language services; dual language services; cued speech; and tactile; or a combination thereof. 

(b) The department of public health and the department of elementary and secondary education shall jointly select language developmental milestones from existing standardized norms, pursuant to the process specified in subsection (e), for purposes of developing a resource for use by parents to monitor and track deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s expressive and receptive language acquisition and developmental stages toward English literacy. This parent resource shall:

(i) Include the language developmental milestones selected pursuant to the process specified in subsection (e).

(ii) Be appropriate for use, in both content and administration, with deaf and hard-of-hearing children from birth to 5 years of age, inclusive, who use American Sign Language (ASL), English, or both languages.

(iii) Present the developmental milestones in terms of typical development of all children, by age range.

(iv) Be written for clarity and ease of use by parents.

(v) Be aligned to the departments’ existing infant, toddler, and preschool guidelines, the existing instrument used to assess the development of children with disabilities pursuant to federal law, and state standards in English language arts.

(vi) Make clear that the parent(s) have the right to select which language, (ASL, English or both) for their child’s language(s) acquisition and developmental milestones.

(vii) Make clear that the parent resource is not a formal assessment of language and literacy development, and that a parent’s observations of their children may differ from formal assessment data presented at an individualized family service plan (IFSP) or individualized education program (IEP) meeting.

(viii) Make clear that a parent may bring the parent resource to an IFSP or IEP meeting for purposes of sharing their observations about their child’s development.

(ix) Include fair, balanced and comprehensive information about language(s) and

communication modes as well as available services and programs.  

(c) The departments of public health and elementary and secondary education shall also select existing tools or assessments for educators that can be used to assess the language and literacy development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children. These educator tools or assessments:

(i) Shall be in a format that shows stages of language development in ASL and/or English.

(ii) Shall be selected for use by educators to track the development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s expressive and receptive language acquisition in ASL and/or English and developmental stages toward English literacy.

(iii) Shall be selected from existing instruments or assessments used to assess the development of all children from birth to 5 years of age, inclusive.

(iv) Shall be appropriate, in both content and administration, for use with deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

(v) Shall be used, in addition to the assessment required by federal law, by the child’s IFSP or IEP team, as applicable, to track deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s progress, and to establish or modify IFSP or IEP plans.

(vi) Shall reflect the recommendations of the task force on kindergarten readiness established pursuant to subsection (f).

(d) (i) The departments shall disseminate the parent resource developed pursuant to subsection (a) to parents and guardians of deaf and hard-of-hearing children, and, pursuant to federal law, shall disseminate the educator tools and assessments selected pursuant to subsection (b) to local educational agencies for use in the development and modification of IFSP and IEP plans, and shall provide materials and training on its use, to assist deaf and hard-of-hearing children in becoming linguistically ready for kindergarten using both or one of the languages of ASL and English.

(ii) If a deaf or hard-of-hearing child does not demonstrate progress in expressive and receptive language skills, as measured by one of the educator tools or assessments selected pursuant to subsection (b), or by the existing instrument used to assess the development of children with disabilities pursuant to federal law, the child’s IFSP or IEP 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.

(e) (i) On or before March 1, 2020, the departments shall provide the task force on kindergarten readiness established pursuant to subsection (f) with a list of existing language developmental milestones from existing standardized norms, along with any relevant information held by the departments regarding those language developmental milestones for possible inclusion in the parent resource developed pursuant to subsection (a). These language developmental milestones shall be aligned to the department’s existing infant, toddler, and preschool guidelines, the existing instrument used to assess the development of children with disabilities pursuant to federal law, and the state standards in English language arts.

(ii) On or before June 1, 2020, the task force on kindergarten readiness shall recommend language developmental milestones for selection pursuant to subsection (b).

(iii) On or before June 30, 2020, the departments shall inform the task force on kindergarten readiness of which language developmental milestones were selected.

(f) (i) The commissioner of public health and the commissioner of elementary and secondary education shall jointly appoint an ad hoc task force, hereafter referred to as the task force on kindergarten readiness, for purposes of soliciting input from experts 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 parent resource developed pursuant to subsection (a). The task force on kindergarten readiness may also make recommendations on the selection and administration of the educator tools or assessments selected pursuant to subsection (b).  The task force on kindergarten readiness may also make recommendations on what materials are unbiased and comprehensive to add to the parent resource.

(ii) The task force on kindergarten readiness shall consist of 16 volunteers, the majority of whom shall be deaf and hard-of-hearing. The task force on kindergarten readiness shall have a balance of members who personally, professionally or parentally use the dual languages of ASL and English and members who personally, professionally or parentally use only spoken English.

The task force on kindergarten readiness shall comprise the following members:

(i) one parent of a child who is deaf or hard-of-hearing who uses the dual languages of ASL and English.

(ii) one parent of a child who is deaf or hard-of-hearing who uses only spoken English, with or without visual supplements.

(iii) one teacher of the deaf and hard-of-hearing licensed in the area of American Sign Language/Total Communication who uses the dual languages of American Sign Language and English in instruction.

(iv) one teacher of the deaf and hard-of-hearing licensed in the area of Oral/Aural from a spoken English only school.

(v) one expert who researches language outcomes for deaf and hard-of-hearing children using ASL and English.

(vi) one expert who researches language outcomes for deaf and hard-of-hearing children using spoken English, with or without visual supplements.

(vii) one teacher of the deaf and hard-of-hearing licensed in the area of American Sign Language/Total Communication whose expertise is in curriculum and instruction in American Sign Language and English.

(viii) one teacher of the deaf and hard-of-hearing licensed in the area of Oral/Aural whose expertise is in curriculum and instruction in spoken English, with or without visual supplements.

(ix) one advocate for the teaching and use of the dual languages of ASL and English.

(x) one advocate for the teaching and use of spoken English, with or without visual supplements.

(xi) one early intervention specialist who works with deaf and hard-of-hearing infants and toddlers using the dual languages of ASL and English.

(xii) one teacher of the deaf and hard-of-hearing licensed in the area of American Sign Language/Total Communication whose expertise is in ASL and English language assessment.

(xiii) one speech pathologist from spoken English, with or without the use of visual supplements, who has expertise in assessment of English language.

(xiv) one American Sign Language Specialist who has expertise in assessment of ASL.

(xv) The chairperson of the Massachusetts State Association of the Deaf (MSAD) Education Advocacy Committee or other designee appointed by the MSAD president.

(xvi) The commissioner of Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf & Hard-of-hearing, or designee who is a Children’s Specialist.

(g) The task force on kindergarten readiness established pursuant to subsection (f) may also advise the departments on the content and administration of the existing instrument 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 to improve the measurement of progress of deaf and hard-of-hearing children in language and literacy.

(h) Commencing on or before July 31, 2020, and on or before each July 31 thereafter, the department shall annually produce a joint report, using existing data reported in compliance with the federally required state performance plan on pupils with disabilities, that is specific to language and literacy development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children from birth to 5 years of age, inclusive, including those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and have other disabilities, relative to their peers who are not deaf or hard-of-hearing. The departments shall make this report available on their respective Internet Web sites.

(i) All activities of the departments in implementing this section shall be consistent with federal law regarding the education of children with disabilities and federal law regarding the privacy of pupil information.

(j) This section shall apply only to children from birth to 5 years of age, inclusive.

SECTION 2. The definition of “Early intervention services” in section 1 of chapter 111G of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence: – Early intervention services shall include language readiness services provided under section 1R of chapter 69.

SECTION 3. Section 2 of said chapter 111G, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-

The department shall, in coordination with the department of elementary and secondary education, develop and promulgate uniform rules and regulations for the provision of language readiness services provided under section 1R of chapter 69.