Requires school districts to conduct mandatory early screening for dyslexia for all children commencing in pre-kindergarten or kindergarten and continuing thereafter on an annual basis until each child successfully completes second grade; requires school districts to designate an individual to maintain complete and accurate records containing early screening reports for each child, and to provide resources and materials to the parent and/or guardian of any child who displays indications of dyslexia.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5259--A
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 8, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SIMON, GALEF, SIMOTAS, LiPETRI, THIELE -- read
once and referred to the Committee on Education -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to mandatory early
screening for dyslexia
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 319 to
2 read as follows:
3 § 319. Mandatory early screening for dyslexia. 1. All school districts
4 shall be required to conduct full and individual screenings in accord-
5 ance with this section for purposes of early identification, support,
6 intervention and accommodation of children with dyslexia and other
7 learning disabilities. For purposes of this section, the term "dyslexia"
8 means a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin
9 and that is characterized by unexpected difficulties with accurate or
10 fluent word recognition and poor spelling and decoding abilities, which
11 difficulty typically results from a deficit in the phonological compo-
12 nent of language and that is inconsistent with the person's intelli-
13 gence, motivation, and sensory capabilities and the provision of effec-
14 tive instruction.
15 2. Mandatory early screening for dyslexia shall be conducted by each
16 school district using a digital assessment tool that includes targeted
17 questions designed to quickly and reliably gather certain relevant func-
18 tional and developmental information from all children described in this
19 subdivision. Mandatory early screening shall commence during pre-
20 kindergarten or kindergarten, whichever is earlier, and shall continue
21 thereafter on an annual basis until such child has successfully
22 completed the second grade.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08780-04-9
A. 5259--A 2
1 3. Upon completion of the administration of each mandatory early
2 screening, a copy of each early screening report and any other findings
3 shall be given to the parent and/or guardian and teachers and teaching
4 assistants of each child, and the individual designated in subdivision
5 four of this section.
6 4. Each school district shall designate an individual to maintain
7 complete and accurate records, including copies of each early screening
8 report, for all children for the duration of each child's educational
9 pursuit or until such child reaches the age of sixteen, whichever is
10 later. The designated individual shall provide resources and materials
11 to the parent and/or guardian of any child who displays low phonemic
12 awareness and other indications of dyslexia.
13 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
