H.F. 2539 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 256B.10 Deaf and hard-of-hearing 1 children —— language developmental milestones. 2 1. Language developmental milestones —— selection. 3 a. The director of the department of education shall appoint 4 an early language development consultant to work with the 5 state school for the deaf, the area education agencies, school 6 districts, and the early hearing detection and intervention 7 program in the department of public health, and shall select 8 language developmental milestones from existing standardized 9 norms for purposes of developing a resource for use by parents 10 or guardians to monitor and track deaf and hard-of-hearing 11 children’s expressive and receptive language acquisition and 12 developmental stages toward American sign language and English 13 literacy. In selecting the language developmental milestones, 14 the early language development consultant shall consider 15 recommendations from the advisory committee established under 16 subsection 5. 17 b. The duties of the early language development consultant 18 appointed by the director pursuant to paragraph “a” shall, at a 19 minimum, include all of the following: 20 (1) Developing and managing language milestones for each 21 age, from birth through age eight, in American sign language 22 and English pursuant to subsection 3. 23 (2) Staffing the advisory committee established pursuant 24 to subsection 5, including but not limited to organizing and 25 facilitating the advisory committee meetings. 26 (3) Developing and distributing resources for parents 27 pertaining to language development pursuant to subsection 4. 28 (4) Developing and distributing resources for early 29 interventionists, educators, hospitals, and health care 30 providers pertaining to language development. 31 (5) Exercising general supervision over follow-up contacts 32 with parents and guardians regarding the need for valid and 33 reliable language assessments and distribution of resources 34 toward language development in American sign language and 35 -1- HF 2539 (2) 88 kh/jh/md 1/ 7

H.F. 2539 English. 1 (6) Planning a parent-friendly procedure for outreach and 2 follow-up. 3 (7) Exercising general supervision over annual or biannual, 4 at the consultant’s discretion, milestone assessments for deaf 5 and hard-of-hearing children. 6 (8) Managing and summarizing data outcomes for parents, 7 guardians, and partner agencies to use, including the annual 8 report published pursuant to subsection 7. 9 (9) Arranging for and exercising general supervision over 10 the appropriate training for language assessment personnel. 11 (10) Maintaining valid and reliable two-fold language 12 assessment approach, utilizing both American sign language and 13 English, in selecting milestones, compiling data, employing 14 qualified personnel, and distributing resources. 15 2. Parent resource. The parent resource developed pursuant 16 to subsection 1 shall meet all of the following requirements: 17 a. Include American sign language and English language 18 developmental milestones selected under subsection 1. 19 b. Be appropriate for use, in both content and 20 administration, with deaf and hard-of-hearing children from 21 birth to eight years of age, inclusive, who use American sign 22 language or English, or both. 23 c. Present the language developmental milestones in terms of 24 typical development of all children from birth to eight years 25 of age, by age range. 26 d. Be written for clarity and ease of use by parents and 27 guardians. 28 e. Be aligned to the department of education’s existing 29 infant, toddler, and preschool guidelines, standards for 30 evaluating eligibility and progress for early intervention or 31 special education under federal law, and state standards in 32 English language arts. 33 f. Clearly specify that the parent resource is not a 34 formal assessment of language and literacy development, and 35 -2- HF 2539 (2) 88 kh/jh/md 2/ 7

H.F. 2539 that the observations of a child by the child’s parent or 1 guardian may differ from formal assessment data presented at an 2 individualized family service plan or individualized education 3 program meeting. 4 g. Clearly specify that a parent or guardian may bring 5 the parent resource to an individualized family service plan 6 or individualized education program meeting for purposes of 7 sharing the parent’s or guardian’s observations regarding the 8 child’s development. 9 3. Selection of tools or assessments. The early language 10 development consultant, in consultation with the state school 11 for the deaf, the area education agencies, school districts, 12 and the early hearing detection and intervention program in the 13 department of public health, shall select existing tools or 14 assessments for educators that can be used to assess American 15 sign language and English language and literacy development of 16 deaf and hard-of-hearing children from birth to eight years of 17 age, inclusive. 18 a. Educator tools or assessments selected under this 19 subsection shall meet the following criteria: 20 (1) Be in a format that shows stages of language 21 development. 22 (2) Be selected for use by educators to track the 23 development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s expressive 24 and receptive language acquisition and developmental stages 25 toward American sign language and English literacy. 26 (3) Be appropriate in both content and administration for 27 use with deaf and hard-of-hearing children. 28 b. Educator tools or assessments selected under this 29 subsection may do either of the following: 30 (1) Be used, in addition to any assessment required by 31 federal law, by the child’s individualized family service plan 32 or individualized education program team, as applicable, to 33 track deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s progress in improving 34 expressive and receptive language skills, and to establish or 35 -3- HF 2539 (2) 88 kh/jh/md 3/ 7

H.F. 2539 modify individualized family service plans or individualized 1 education programs. 2 (2) Reflect the recommendations of the advisory committee 3 convened under subsection 5. 4 4. Dissemination. The early language development 5 consultant shall disseminate the parent resource developed 6 pursuant to this section to parents and guardians of deaf and 7 hard-of-hearing children and, consistent with federal law, 8 shall disseminate the educator tools and assessments selected 9 pursuant to subsection 3 to early hearing detection and 10 invention programs, area education agencies, school districts, 11 accredited nonpublic schools, and the state school for the deaf 12 for use in the development and modification of individualized 13 family service or individualized education program plans, 14 and shall provide materials and training on the use of such 15 materials to assist deaf and hard-of-hearing children in 16 kindergarten readiness using American sign language or English, 17 or both, from birth through age eight. 18 5. Advisory committee. 19 a. The department of education shall establish and consult 20 with an advisory committee for purposes of soliciting input, 21 including input from experts on the selection of language 22 developmental milestones for children who are deaf or 23 hard-of-hearing that are equivalent to those for children who 24 are not deaf or hard-of-hearing, for inclusion in the parent 25 resource developed and disseminated to parents and guardians 26 pursuant to this section. The early language development 27 consultant shall provide staffing and administrative support 28 to the advisory committee and shall provide the committee 29 with a list of existing language developmental milestones 30 from existing standardized norms, along with any relevant 31 information held by the department regarding those language 32 developmental milestones for possible inclusion in the parent 33 resource developed pursuant to this section. 34 b. The advisory committee shall do all of the following: 35 -4- HF 2539 (2) 88 kh/jh/md 4/ 7

H.F. 2539 (1) Make recommendations on the selection and use of the 1 educator tools or assessments selected pursuant to subsection 2 3. 3 (2) Advise the department or its consultants on the content 4 and administration of existing evaluation and assessment tools, 5 instruments, and procedures used to assess the development 6 of children with disabilities pursuant to federal law, and 7 to assess deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s language and 8 literacy development to ensure the appropriate use of such 9 tools, instruments, and procedures with such children, and may 10 make recommendations regarding future research to improve the 11 measurement of progress of deaf and hard-of-hearing children in 12 language and literacy development. 13 (3) Develop a process in compliance with federal law for 14 plan modifications if a deaf or hard-of-hearing child does not 15 demonstrate adequate yearly progress in improving expressive 16 and receptive language skills, as measured by an educator tool 17 or assessment selected pursuant to subsection 3. 18 (4) The advisory committee shall consist of seven 19 volunteers, the majority of whom shall be deaf or 20 hard-of-hearing, and all of whom shall have experience 21 or involvement within the field of education for the 22 deaf and hard-of-hearing or relating directly to deaf and 23 hard-of-hearing children. The advisory committee shall include 24 all of the following members: 25 (a) One parent or guardian of a child who is deaf or 26 hard-of-hearing and who uses both American sign language and 27 English or who uses spoken English. 28 (b) One licensed teacher who uses American sign language and 29 English. 30 (c) One licensed teacher who uses spoken English. 31 (d) One person who shall be the parent or guardian of a deaf 32 or hard-of-hearing child or an interpreter, speech pathologist, 33 teacher of the deaf, human rights advocate, child advocate, or 34 licensed education administrator. 35 -5- HF 2539 (2) 88 kh/jh/md 5/ 7

H.F. 2539 (e) One advocate for the deaf or an advocate of American 1 sign language. 2 (f) One American sign language specialist, American sign 3 language professor, or native signer recommended by the Iowa 4 association of the deaf and the office of deaf services of the 5 department of human rights. 6 (g) One speech pathologist whose expertise is in spoken 7 English, or an early interventionist who uses spoken English. 8 c. The early language development consultant shall 9 convene the advisory committee by March 1, 2021, and as 10 frequently thereafter as the consultant deems necessary 11 for purposes of this section. The advisory committee shall 12 submit recommendations to the state board of education by 13 July 1, 2021, shall submit recommendations relating to plan 14 modifications developed pursuant to paragraph “b” , subparagraph 15 (3), to the state board of education and to the general 16 assembly by December 1, 2021, and shall submit recommendations 17 thereafter as the consultant deems necessary. 18 6. Activities —— consistent with federal law. All activities 19 of the department of education in implementing this section 20 shall be consistent with federal law for the education of 21 children from birth to eight years of age, inclusive. 22 7. Annual report. The department of education shall 23 annually compile, and publish on the department’s internet 24 site, a report using existing data reported in compliance 25 with the state performance plan on pupils with disabilities, 26 required under federal law, that is specific to language and 27 literacy development in deaf and hard-of-hearing children 28 from birth to eight years of age, inclusive, including those 29 children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and have other 30 disabilities, relative to the children’s peers who are not deaf 31 or hard-of-hearing. 32 8. Definitions. For purposes of this section, unless the 33 context otherwise requires: 34 a. “English” includes spoken English, written English, or 35 -6- HF 2539 (2) 88 kh/jh/md 6/ 7