Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1959 To promote and ensure delivery of high-quality special education and related services to students with visual disabilities or who are deaf or hard of hearing or deaf-blind through instructional methodologies meeting their unique learning needs, to enhance accountability for the provision of such services, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 17, 2021 Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. NORTON, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. STANTON, Mr. MOULTON, Miss RICE of New York, Mrs. NAPOLI- TANO, Mr. RYAN, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. EVANS, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, and Mr. NADLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Education and Labor A BILL To promote and ensure delivery of high-quality special edu- cation and related services to students with visual disabil- ities or who are deaf or hard of hearing or deaf-blind through instructional methodologies meeting their unique learning needs, to enhance accountability for the provi- sion of such services, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 May 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1959.IH H1959 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1959 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES; TABLE OF CON- 1 TENTS. 2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 3 ‘‘Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act’’. 4 (b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise expressly 5 provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal 6 is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, 7 a section or other provision, the reference shall be consid- 8 ered to be made to a section or other provision of the Indi- 9 viduals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 10 et seq.). 11 (c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 12 this Act is as follows: 13 Sec. 1. Short title; references; table of contents. Sec. 2. Purposes. Sec. 3. Findings. TITLE I—IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SPECIAL EDU- CATION AND RELATED SERVICES FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING Subtitle A—General Provisions Sec. 101. Identifying students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Sec. 102. State plans. Sec. 103. Evaluations. Sec. 104. Individualized education program team. Sec. 105. Consideration of special factors. Sec. 106. Monitoring. Sec. 107. Continuum of service delivery options. Sec. 108. Technical assistance for parents and educators of students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Subtitle B—Improving the Effectiveness of Early Intervention for Deaf or Hard of Hearing Infants and Toddlers and Their Families Sec. 111. Qualified personnel. Sec. 112. Natural environment. Sec. 113. Content of plan. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 May 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H1959.IH H1959 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1959 IH Subtitle C—National Activities To Improve Education of Children With Disabilities Sec. 121. Personnel development to improve services and results for children with disabilities. TITLE II—IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SPECIAL EDU- CATION AND RELATED SERVICES FOR STUDENTS WITH VIS- UAL DISABILITIES Subtitle A—General Provisions Sec. 201. Identifying students with visual disabilities. Sec. 202. State plans. Sec. 203. Evaluations. Sec. 204. Consideration of special factors. Sec. 205. Technical assistance for parents and educators of students with visual disabilities. Subtitle B—Anne Sullivan Macy Center on Visual Disability and Educational Excellence Sec. 211. Center establishment and mission. Sec. 212. Administration; eligibility; governance; structure. Sec. 213. Activities. Sec. 214. Authorization of appropriations and carryover. Sec. 215. Relationship to other programs and activities. TITLE III—IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SPECIAL EDU- CATION AND RELATED SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH WHO ARE DEAF-BLIND Subtitle A—General Provisions Sec. 301. Identifying children who are deaf-blind. Sec. 302. Related services. Sec. 303. State plans. Sec. 304. Evaluations. Sec. 305. Consideration of special factors. Sec. 306. Technical assistance for parents and educators of children who are deaf-blind. Sec. 307. Conforming regulations. Subtitle B—Improving the Effectiveness of Early Intervention for Infants and Toddlers With Deaf-Blindness and Their Families Sec. 311. Content of plan. Subtitle C—National Activities To Improve the Education of Children With Disabilities Sec. 321. Personnel development to improve services and results for children with disabilities; ensuring sufficient teachers of the deaf-blind and early intervention specialists. SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 1 The purposes of this Act are as follows: 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 May 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1959.IH H1959 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1959 IH (1) To better ensure delivery of high quality 1 special education and related services to students 2 with visual disabilities or who are deaf or hard of 3 hearing or who are deaf-blind through specialized in- 4 structional services and methodologies designed to 5 meet their unique language, communication, and 6 learning needs. 7 (2) To better ensure delivery of high quality 8 early intervention services to infants and toddlers 9 who are deaf or hard of hearing or who are deaf- 10 blind and their families through specialized services 11 and methodologies designed to meet their unique 12 language, communication, and other developmental 13 needs. 14 (3) To foster the proliferation of research sup- 15 porting the development and evaluation of effective 16 and innovative assessments and instructional meth- 17 odologies consonant with the unique learning needs 18 of students with visual disabilities. 19 (4) To enhance accountability for the provision 20 of such services. 21 (5) To support the development of personnel 22 serving students with visual disabilities or who are 23 deaf or hard of hearing or who are deaf-blind. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 May 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1959.IH H1959 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1959 IH SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 1 The Congress finds the following: 2 (1) When American author, Mark Twain, im- 3 mortalized Helen Keller’s teacher, Anne Sullivan 4 Macy, with the moniker ‘‘the miracle worker’’, his 5 words, though meant as praise, reflect the mis- 6 conception that educating individuals with disabil- 7 ities is a nearly insurmountable task requiring ex- 8 traordinary feats performed by gifted and saintly 9 persons. Rather, the work of teaching children with 10 disabilities can and does occur when committed and 11 qualified but everyday special educators are properly 12 prepared and supported to practice their professions. 13 Yet, the educational systems within which they act 14 must also be held accountable for results. 15 (2) In 1817, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and a 16 deaf teacher, Laurent Clerc, opened the first Amer- 17 ican school for deaf students—the American School 18 for the Deaf—with young Alice Cogswell as its first 19 pupil. Ultimately the school grew into a national in- 20 stitution and the mother of many other schools. As 21 Alice demonstrated, deaf and hard of hearing chil- 22 dren can learn and achieve to high levels when they 23 have full access to language and communication; are 24 taught by professionals with specialized training; 25 and have access to educational placements that rec- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 May 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1959.IH H1959 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1959 IH ognize and provide for their language, communica- 1 tion, social-emotional, and academic needs. 2 (3) Deaf and hard of hearing children who are 3 identified early and receive appropriate early inter- 4 vention from specialized, qualified providers achieve 5 higher language and communication outcomes. How- 6 ever, currently, early intervention services typically 7 are not provided in a timely manner and severe 8 shortages of specialized early intervention profes- 9 sionals result in many deaf and hard of hearing chil- 10 dren not reaching their developmental potential. 11 Similarly, research demonstrates that students with 12 visual disabilities are among the highest performing 13 students with disabilities in terms of academic 14 achievement, and yet they are among the least em- 15 ployed, even after successful accomplishment of post- 16 secondary academic objectives. 17 (4) Likewise, children who are deaf-blind have 18 the same capacity to learn and achieve as any other 19 children. However, they must have ongoing access to 20 the same environmental and educational information 21 that their sighted and hearing peers can access auto- 22 matically. These children require direct learning ex- 23 periences, including hands-on experiences and in- 24 tense involvement in educational routines and activi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 May 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1959.IH H1959 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1959 IH ties. They must receive specialized direct instruction 1 in their preferred mode of communication in a range 2 of academic and functional areas. 3 (5) Students who are deaf, hard of hearing, or 4 deaf-blind require more language and communica- 5 tion access and support to acquire skills than they 6 are currently receiving. It has been the U.S. Depart- 7 ment of Education’s position since 1992 that ‘‘[a]ny 8 educational setting that does not meet the commu- 9 nication and related needs of a child who is deaf 10 does not allow for the provision of [a Free Appro- 11 priate Public Education] and cannot be considered 12 the [Least Restrictive Environment] for that child’’. 13 (6) Moreover, a principal way that sighted, 14 hearing students acquire knowledge and skills is 15 through incidental learning, naturally observing oth- 16 ers and the environment. Deficits in incidental learn- 17 ing leave students with sensory disabilities behind in 18 an array of skill areas. In addition to core aca- 19 demics, deaf and hard of hearing students, for exam- 20 ple, must also receive specialized instruction and 21 services designed to maximize their capacity to learn 22 effectively and live productively and independently. 23 Similarly, students who are blind or visually im- 24 paired must also receive instruction in the expanded 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 May 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1959.IH H1959 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1959 IH core curriculum, a comprehensive array of special- 1 ized instruction and services maximizing the capacity 2 of students with visual disabilities to learn effectively 3 and live productively and independently. 4 (7) The widespread use by States of Individuals 5 with Disabilities Education Act’s disability cat- 6 egories has led to a sizable undercount of students 7 with sensory disabilities and, consequently, a lack of 8 recognition of the extent of the systemic need for the 9 delivery of appropriate instructional services meeting 10 their unique needs. This occurs in large measure be- 11 cause students with sensory disabilities who also 12 have additional disabilities are frequently formally 13 classified as having multiple disabilities. Con- 14 sequently, their vision, hearing, or concomitant vi- 15 sion and hearing disabilities and related support 16 needs are not fully acknowledged. 17 (8) Children who are deaf-blind should receive 18 one-to-one services from interveners, who have train- 19 ing and specialized skills in deaf-blindness. 20 Interveners play a critical role in the provision of a 21 Free and Appropriate Public Education, because 22 they provide access to the information these children 23 need in order to learn and develop concepts, to facili- 24 tate their communication development and inter- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 May 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1959.IH H1959 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1959 IH actions in their preferred mode of communication, 1 and to promote their social and emotional well-being. 2 (9) A national resource in visual disabilities is 3 needed to supplement the work of State and local 4 educational agencies through student enrichment ac- 5 tivities; to support teachers of students with visual 6 impairments and related services personnel through 7 state-of-the-art continuing education opportunities; 8 and to spur the further advancement of instructional 9 services for students with visual disabilities through 10 scientific research and evidence-based best practices. 11 TITLE I—IMPROVING THE EF- 12 FECTIVENESS OF SPECIAL 13 EDUCATION AND RELATED 14 SERVICES FOR STUDENTS 15 WHO ARE DEAF OR HARD OF 16 HEARING 17 Subtitle A—General Provisions 18 SEC. 101. IDENTIFYING STUDENTS WHO ARE DEAF OR 19 HARD OF HEARING. 20 (a) SERVING ALL CHILDREN WHO ARE DEAF OR 21 HARD OF HEARING REGARDLESS OF CLASSIFICATION.— 22 Section 612(a)(3) (20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(3)) is amended at 23 the end by adding the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 May 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1959.IH H1959 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1959 IH ‘‘(C) SERVING CHILDREN WHO ARE DEAF 1 OR HARD OF HEARING.—When a State classi- 2 fies children by disability, the State, in com- 3 plying with subsection (a), identifies, locates 4 and evaluates children who are deaf or hard of 5 hearing who are, or may be, classified in a dis- 6 ability category other than hearing impairment 7 and provides (without prejudice to such classi- 8 fication) special education and related services 9 to such children, including such services deter- 10 mined appropriate based on proper evaluation 11 as would be provided to children classified in 12 the State as deaf or hard of hearing.’’. 13 (b) DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING.—Section 14 618 (20 U.S.C. 1418) is amended by adding at the end 15 the following: 16 ‘‘(e) ACCOUNTING FOR DEAF AND HARD OF HEAR- 17 ING STUDENTS.—In addition to the data collection and 18 reporting requirements of subsections (a) through (d) and 19 subject to such provisions, the State and the Secretary of 20 the Interior shall, with respect to children classified in a 21 disability category other than hearing impairment or deaf- 22 ness, include the number and percentage of such children 23 in each disability category who are also deaf or hard of 24 hearing.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 [Text truncated for display. 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