HF 341

as introduced - 90th Legislature (2017 - 2018) Posted on 02/15/2017 12:39pm

A bill for an act
relating to education; pursuing strategies to prevent over-enrolling minority students
and English learners in special education, dismissing more minority students than
other students with disabilities, or placing more minority students than other
students in settings other than general education classrooms; emphasizing cultural
competency; amending Minnesota Statutes 2016, sections 120B.12, subdivision
1; 121A.55; 122A.06, subdivision 4; 125A.08; 125A.56.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 120B.12, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Literacy goal.

The legislature seeks to have every child reading at or
above grade level no later than the end of grade 3, including English learners, and that
new text begin culturally competent new text end teachers new text begin , consistent with section 120B.30, subdivision 1, paragraph
(q), new text end provide comprehensive, scientifically based reading instruction consistent with section
122A.06, subdivision 4.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective for the 2017-2018 school year and later.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 121A.55, is amended to read:

121A.55 POLICIES TO BE ESTABLISHED.

(a) The commissioner of education shall promulgate guidelines to assist each school
board. Each school board shall establish uniform criteria for dismissal and adopt written new text begin ,
culturally competent new text end policies and rules new text begin , consistent with section 120B.30, subdivision 1,
paragraph (q), new text end to effectuate the purposes of sections 121A.40 to 121A.56. The policies shall
emphasize preventing dismissals through early detection of problems and shall be designed
to address students' inappropriate behavior from recurring. The policies shall recognize the
continuing responsibility of the school for the education of the pupil during the dismissal
period. The alternative educational services, if the pupil wishes to take advantage of them,
must be adequate to allow the pupil to make progress towards meeting the graduation
standards adopted under section 120B.02 and help prepare the pupil for readmission.

(b) An area learning center under section 123A.05 may not prohibit an expelled or
excluded pupil from enrolling solely because a district expelled or excluded the pupil. The
board of the area learning center may use the provisions of the Pupil Fair Dismissal Act to
exclude a pupil or to require an admission plan.

(c) Each school district shall develop a policy and report it to the commissioner on the
appropriate use of peace officers and crisis teams to remove students who have an
individualized education program from school grounds.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective for the 2017-2018 school year and later.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 122A.06, subdivision 4, is amended to read:

Subd. 4.

Comprehensive, scientifically based reading instruction.

(a) "Comprehensive,
scientifically based reading instruction" includes a program or collection of instructional
practices that is based on valid, replicable evidence showing that when these programs or
practices are used, students can be expected to achieve, at a minimum, satisfactory reading
progress. The program or collection of practices must include, at a minimum, effective,
balanced new text begin , and culturally competent new text end instruction in all five areas of reading new text begin , consistent with
section 120B.30, subdivision 1, paragraph (q) new text end : phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency,
vocabulary development, and reading comprehension.

Comprehensive, scientifically based reading instruction also includes and integrates
instructional strategies for continuously assessing, evaluating, and communicating the
student's reading progress and needs in order to design and implement ongoing interventions
so that students of all ages and proficiency levels can read and comprehend text, write, and
apply higher level thinking skills. For English learners developing literacy skills, districts
are encouraged to use strategies that teach reading and writing in the students' native language
and English at the same time.

(b) "Fluency" is the ability of students to read text with speed, accuracy, and proper
expression.

(c) "Phonemic awareness" is the ability of students to notice, think about, and manipulate
individual sounds in spoken syllables and words.

(d) "Phonics" is the understanding that there are systematic and predictable relationships
between written letters and spoken words. Phonics instruction is a way of teaching reading
that stresses learning how letters correspond to sounds and how to apply this knowledge in
reading and spelling.

(e) "Reading comprehension" is an active process that requires intentional thinking
during which meaning is constructed through interactions between text and reader.
Comprehension skills are taught explicitly by demonstrating, explaining, modeling, and
implementing specific cognitive strategies to help beginning readers derive meaning through
intentional, problem-solving thinking processes.

(f) "Vocabulary development" is the process of teaching vocabulary both directly and
indirectly, with repetition and multiple exposures to vocabulary items. Learning in rich
contexts, incidental learning, and use of computer technology enhance the acquiring of
vocabulary.

(g) Nothing in this subdivision limits the authority of a school district to select a school's
reading program or curriculum.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective for the 2017-2018 school year and later.
new text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 125A.08, is amended to read:

125A.08 INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAMS.

(a) At the beginning of each school year, each school district shall have in effect, for
each child with a disability, an individualized education program.

(b) As defined in this section, every district must ensure the following:

(1) all students with disabilities are provided the special instruction and services which
are appropriate to their needs. Where the new text begin culturally competent new text end individualized education
program team new text begin , consistent with section 120B.30, subdivision 1, paragraph (q), new text end has determined
appropriate goals and objectives based on the student's needs, including the extent to which
the student can be included in the least restrictive environment, and where there are
essentially equivalent and effective instruction, related services, or assistive technology
devices available to meet the student's needs, cost to the district may be among the factors
considered by the team in choosing how to provide the appropriate services, instruction, or
devices that are to be made part of the student's individualized education program. The
individualized education program team shall consider and may authorize services covered
by medical assistance according to section 256B.0625, subdivision 26. Before a school
district evaluation team makes a determination of other health disability under Minnesota
Rules, part 3525.1335, subparts 1 and 2, item A, subitem (1), the evaluation team must seek
written documentation of the student's medically diagnosed chronic or acute health condition
signed by a licensed physician or a licensed health care provider acting within the scope of
the provider's practice. The student's needs and the special education instruction and services
to be provided must be agreed upon through the development of an individualized education
program. The program must address the student's need to develop skills to live and work
as independently as possible within the community. The individualized education program
team must consider positive behavioral interventions, strategies, and supports that address
behavior needs for children. During grade 9, the program must address the student's needs
for transition from secondary services to postsecondary education and training, employment,
community participation, recreation, and leisure and home living. In developing the program,
districts must inform parents of the full range of transitional goals and related services that
should be considered. The program must include a statement of the needed transition services,
including a statement of the interagency responsibilities or linkages or both before secondary
services are concluded. If the individualized education program meets the plan components
in section 120B.125, the individualized education program satisfies the requirement and no
additional transition plan is needed;

(2) children with a disability under age five and their families are provided special
instruction and services appropriate to the child's level of functioning and needs;

(3) children with a disability and their parents or guardians are guaranteed procedural
safeguards and the right to participate in decisions involving identification, assessment
including assistive technology assessment, and educational placement of children with a
disability;

(4) eligibility and needs of children with a disability are determined by an initial
evaluation or reevaluation, which may be completed using existing data under United States
Code, title 20, section 33, et seq.;

(5) to the maximum extent appropriate, children with a disability, including those in
public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not
disabled, and that special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with a
disability from the regular educational environment occurs only when and to the extent that
the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use
of supplementary services cannot be achieved satisfactorily;

(6) in accordance with recognized professional standards, testing and evaluation materials,
and procedures used for the purposes of classification and placement of children with a
disability are selected and administered so as not to be racially or culturally discriminatory;
and

(7) the rights of the child are protected when the parents or guardians are not known or
not available, or the child is a ward of the state.

(c) For all paraprofessionals employed to work in programs whose role in part is to
provide direct support to students with disabilities, the school board in each district shall
ensure that:

(1) before or beginning at the time of employment, each paraprofessional must develop
sufficient knowledge and skills in emergency procedures, building orientation, roles and
responsibilities, confidentiality, vulnerability, and reportability, among other things, to begin
meeting the needs, especially disability-specific and behavioral needs, of the students with
whom the paraprofessional works;

(2) annual training opportunities are required to enable the paraprofessional to continue
to further develop the knowledge deleted text begin and deleted text end new text begin , new text end skills new text begin , and cultural competency, consistent with
section 120B.30, subdivision 1, paragraph (q), new text end that are specific to the students with whom
the paraprofessional works, including understanding disabilities, the unique and individual
needs of each student according to the student's disability and how the disability affects the
student's education and behavior, following lesson plans, and implementing follow-up
instructional procedures and activities; and

(3) a districtwide process obligates each paraprofessional to work under the ongoing
direction of a licensed teacher and, where appropriate and possible, the supervision of a
school nurse.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective for the 2017-2018 school year and later.
new text end

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 125A.56, is amended to read:

125A.56 ALTERNATE INSTRUCTION REQUIRED BEFORE ASSESSMENT
REFERRAL.

Subdivision 1.

Requirement.

(a) Before a pupil is referred for a special education
evaluation, deleted text begin the deleted text end new text begin culturally competent new text end district new text begin employees, consistent with section 120B.30,
subdivision 1, paragraph (q), new text end must conduct and document at least two instructional strategies,
alternatives, or interventions using a system of scientific, research-based instruction and
intervention in academics or behavior, based on the pupil's needs, while the pupil is in the
regular classroom. The pupil's teacher must document the results. A special education
evaluation team may waive this requirement when it determines the pupil's need for the
evaluation is urgent. This section may not be used to deny a pupil's right to a special
education evaluation.

(b) A school district shall use alternative intervention services, including the assurance
of mastery program under section 124D.66, or an early intervening services program under
subdivision 2 to serve at-risk pupils who demonstrate a need for alternative instructional
strategies or interventions.

(c) A student identified as being unable to read at grade level under section 120B.12,
subdivision 2, paragraph (a), must be provided with alternate instruction under this
subdivision.

Subd. 2.

Early intervening services program.

(a) A district may meet the requirement
under subdivision 1 by establishing an early intervening services program that includes:

(1) a system of valid and reliable general outcome measures aligned to state academic
standards that is administered at least three times per year to pupils in kindergarten through
grade 8 who need additional academic or behavioral support to succeed in the general
education environment. The school must provide interim assessments that measure pupils'
performance three times per year and implement progress monitoring appropriate to the
pupil. For purposes of this section, "progress monitoring" means the frequent and continuous
measurement of a pupil's performance that includes these three interim assessments and
other pupil assessments during the school year. A school, at its discretion, may allow pupils
in grades 9 through 12 to participate in interim assessments;

(2) a system of scientific, research-based instruction and intervention; and

(3) an organizational plan that allows teachers, paraprofessionals, and volunteers funded
through various sources to work as a grade-level team or use another configuration across
grades and settings to deliver instruction. The team must be trained in scientific,
research-based instruction and intervention. Teachers and paraprofessionals at a site operating
under this paragraph must work collaboratively with those pupils who need additional
academic or behavioral support to succeed in a general education environment.

(b) As an intervention under paragraph (a), clause (2), staff generating special education
aid under section 125A.76 may provide small group instruction to pupils who need additional
academic or behavioral support to succeed in the general education environment. Small
group instruction that includes pupils with a disability may be provided in the general
education environment if the needs of the pupils with a disability are met, consistent with
their individualized education programs, and all pupils in the group receive the same level
of instruction and make the same progress in the instruction or intervention. new text begin Culturally
competent new text end teachers and paraprofessionals new text begin , consistent with section 120B.30, subdivision 1,
paragraph (q), new text end must ensure that the needs of pupils with a disability participating in small
group instruction under this paragraph remain the focus of the instruction. Expenditures
attributable to the time special education staff spends providing instruction to nondisabled
pupils in this circumstance is eligible for special education aid under section 125A.76 as
an incidental benefit if:

(1) the group consists primarily of disabled pupils;

(2) no special education staff are added to meet nondisabled pupils' needs; and

(3) the primary purpose of the instruction is to implement the individualized education
programs of pupils with a disability in this group.

Expenditures attributable to the time special education staff spends providing small
group instruction to nondisabled pupils that affords more than an incidental benefit to such
pupils is not eligible for special education aid under section 125A.76, except that such
expenditures may be included in the alternative delivery initial aid adjustment under section
125A.78 if the district has an approved program under section 125A.50. During each 60-day
period that a nondisabled pupil participates in small group instruction under this paragraph,
the pupil's progress monitoring data must be examined to determine whether the pupil is
making progress and, if the pupil is not making progress, the pupil's intervention strategies
must be changed or the pupil must be referred for a special education evaluation.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective for the 2017-2018 school year and later.
new text end