HB189 Alabama 2018 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Margie WilcoxRepresentative

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2018

Title

Education, State Dept. of Education and Alabama Dept. of Rehabilitation Services, to consult with Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind to select language developmental milestones and monitor and track progress of deaf and hard-of-hearing children

Summary

HB189 would create a joint effort by Alabama's education and rehabilitation agencies, with the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind, to develop a parent-friendly language milestones resource and educator tools for monitoring language development in deaf and hard-of-hearing children from birth through age five.

What This Bill Does

It requires the Department of Education and the Department of Rehabilitation Services to work with the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind to choose language milestones from existing norms and develop a parent resource. It establishes an advisory committee to guide milestone selection and tool use. The departments would disseminate these resources to families and local school agencies and require IFSP/IEP teams to use the educator tools to track progress and plan services. An annual report will compare language development between deaf/hard-of-hearing children and their hearing peers, and the act states that no language or modality is being preferred.

Who It Affects

• Deaf and hard-of-hearing children from birth to five years old and their families, who will have a parent resource to monitor language development and may bring observations to IFSP/IEP meetings.
• Educators, schools, local education agencies, and state agencies (Department of Education and Department of Rehabilitation Services) who will use educator tools and assessments to track progress, inform IFSP/IEP planning, and review annual reports.

Key Provisions

• Jointly select language developmental milestones from existing standardized norms to create a parent resource that helps monitor deaf and hard-of-hearing children's expressive and receptive language development and progress toward English literacy.
• Establish an advisory committee with mostly deaf or hard-of-hearing members and diverse representation to guide milestone selection and the use of educator assessment tools.
• Identify and approve existing tools or assessments for educators to track language and literacy development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children, usable for IFSP/IEP planning and possible incorporation into education plans.
• Develop and disseminate a parent resource and provide educator training; ensure resources are appropriate for ASL and English and clarify they are not formal assessments, with parents able to bring observations to IFSP/IEP meetings.
• Require IFSP/IEP teams to explain reasons when a child does not progress toward milestones and to recommend specific strategies and services.
• Produce an annual joint report on language and literacy development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children birth to five, comparing with hearing peers and with ASL vs spoken English users, and publish it on department websites and share with legislative committees.
• State that the act does not prefer any language or modality and does not influence family language decisions.
• Set timelines: milestones list by March 1, 2019; final milestone selections reported by June 30, 2019.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 24, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Education