NY S01930

Department of Education and New York State School for the Deaf shall jointly select language developmental milestones from existing standardized norms to create a parent resource for monitoring deaf and hard-of-hearing children's language acquisition from birth to age five.

Parent resource must be appropriate for children using American Sign Language, spoken English, written English, or English with visual supplements, and must align with state infant, toddler, and preschool guidelines and English language arts standards.

Department shall select existing educator tools and assessments to track deaf and hard-of-hearing children's language development for use by IFSP and IEP teams in addition to federally required assessments.

If a deaf or hard-of-hearing child fails to demonstrate progress in language skills, the IFSP or IEP team must explain in detail why milestones are not being met and recommend specific strategies and services to support English literacy.

Superintendent of New York State School for the Deaf shall establish a 13-member advisory committee, with majority deaf or hard-of-hearing, including parents, teachers, researchers, advocates, and specialists; department must issue annual reports on language and literacy development by July 31, 2022 and annually thereafter.