STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2767--A
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 17, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sens. GOLDEN, HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education --
recommitted to the Committee on Education in accordance with Senate
Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing a pilot
program to provide early screening and intervention services for chil-
dren with risk factors 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. Dyslexia screening; pilot program. 1. The commissioner is here-
4 by directed to establish a pilot program to provide early screening and
5 intervention services for children with risk factors for dyslexia,
6 including low phonemic awareness. The commissioner shall select three
7 school districts to participate in the pilot program, one of which shall
8 be located in an urban setting, one of which shall be located in a
9 suburban setting, and one of which shall be located in a rural setting.
10 Any school district selected to participate in the pilot program may
11 establish a partnership with a regional library or library system for
12 purposes of the pilot program. To be considered for the pilot program, a
13 school district shall submit a proposal to the commissioner which:
14 (a) identifies a method of screening children for low phonemic aware-
15 ness and other risk factors for dyslexia;
16 (b) provides for the enrollment of children identified as having risk
17 factors for dyslexia in a reading program staffed by teachers trained in
18 multisensory structured language programs; and
19 (c) includes a methodology for evaluating the effects of the reading
20 program on the children's identified risk factors.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06023-02-8
S. 2767--A 2
1 2. The goal of the pilot program shall be to demonstrate and evaluate
2 the effectiveness of early reading assistance programs for children with
3 risk factors for dyslexia and to evaluate whether those programs can
4 reduce future special education costs.
5 3. The commissioner shall establish guidelines and procedures for the
6 pilot program. The commissioner shall consult with the international
7 dyslexia association or any other nationally recognized organization
8 that specializes in multisensory structured language programs for the
9 treatment of dyslexia in establishing and operating the pilot program.
10 4. (a) Under the pilot program, each participating school district,
11 through early childhood reading instruction and reading assistance
12 programs, shall:
13 (i) screen children six years of age or younger for indications of
14 dyslexia;
15 (ii) provide appropriate reading intervention services for those chil-
16 dren suspected of having dyslexia; and
17 (iii) administer assessments, approved by the commissioner, to ascer-
18 tain whether the intervention services improve those students' reading
19 and learning.
20 (b) When a child is suspected of having dyslexia, the district shall
21 notify the child's parent or guardian of that fact and that the child,
22 as part of the pilot program, is eligible to receive reading inter-
23 vention services to measure the effectiveness of early reading assist-
24 ance programs. The district shall require the parent or guardian to
25 indicate in writing that the parent or guardian voluntarily and knowing-
26 ly consents to the child's participation in the pilot program for the
27 provision of reading intervention services. Each district shall provide
28 to the parents of children suspected of having dyslexia information
29 about the learning disability, recommended multisensory treatments, and
30 possible services under this pilot program or this chapter.
31 (c) Each participating school district shall report annually to the
32 commissioner data about the operation and results of the pilot program,
33 as required by the commissioner in the manner prescribed by the commis-
34 sioner.
35 5. For the purposes of this section, "dyslexia" means a specific
36 learning disorder that is neurological in origin and that is character-
37 ized by unexpected difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition
38 and by poor spelling and decoding abilities not consistent with the
39 person's intelligence, motivation, and sensory capabilities, which
40 difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological compo-
41 nent of language.
42 6. The pilot program shall operate for three full school years, begin-
43 ning with the next succeeding school year that begins at least three
44 months after the effective date of this section.
45 § 2. The commissioner of education shall apply for private and other
46 nonstate funds, and shall use available state funds appropriated to the
47 department of education for the pilot program established pursuant to
48 section one of this act.
49 § 3. The commissioner of education shall submit a report to the gover-
50 nor and the legislature no later than the thirty-first day of December
51 of the third school year in which the pilot program is operating
52 containing the commissioner's evaluation of the results of the pilot
53 program and legislative recommendations whether to continue, expand, or
54 make changes to the pilot program.
55 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.