Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 12, March 20, 2024
(a) Each
school district shall develop a plan for the diagnostic screening of all new
entrants and students with low test scores. All new entrants and students with
low test scores shall be screened in accordance with the plan.
(b) Such diagnostic screening shall be
conducted:
(1) by persons appropriately
trained or qualified;
(2) by
persons appropriately trained or qualified in the student's native language if
the language of the home is other than English;
(3) in the case of new entrants, such
screening shall be conducted prior to the school year, if possible, but no
later than December 1st of the school year of entry, or within 15 days of
transfer of a student into a New York State public school should the entry take
place after December 1st of the school year; provided, however, that for the
2020-2021 school year, due to the COVID-19 crisis such screening for a student
who transfers after December 1, 2020 into a New York State public school from a
district outside New York State, or from a district within New York State and
such student has no screening record, shall be conducted as soon as
practicable;
(4) in the case of
students with low test scores, such screening shall be conducted within 30 days
of the availability of the test scores.
(c) Diagnostic screening for new entrants
shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) a
health examination by a health care provider, or evidence of such in the form
of a health certificate, in accordance with sections
903,
904 and
905 of the Education Law;
(2) certificates of immunization or referral
for immunization in accordance with section
2164 of the Public Health Law;
(3) vision, hearing and scoliosis screenings
as required by section
136.3
of this Title;
(4) a determination
of development in oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression,
basic reading skills and reading fluency and comprehension, mathematical
calculation and problem solving, motor development, articulation skills, and
cognitive development using recognized and validated screening tools:
and
(5) a determination whether the
student is of foreign birth or ancestry and comes from a home where a language
other than English is spoken as determined by the results of a home language
questionnaire and an informal interview in English and the native
language.
(d) Diagnostic
screening for students with low test scores shall include, but not be limited
to:
(1) vision and hearing screenings to
determine whether a vision or hearing impairment is impacting the student's
ability to learn; and
(2) a review
of the instructional programs in reading and mathematics to ensure that
explicit and research validated instruction is being provided in reading and
mathematics.
(i) Students with low test
scores shall be monitored periodically through screenings and on-going
assessments of the student's reading and mathematic abilities and skills. If
the student is determined to be making sub-standard progress in such areas of
study, instruction shall be provided that is tailored to meet the student's
individual needs with increasingly intensive levels of targeted intervention
and instruction.
(ii) School
districts shall provide written notification to parents when a student required
an intervention beyond which is provided to the general education classroom.
Such notification shall include: information about the performance data that
will be collected and the general education services that will be provided;
strategies for increasing the student's rate of learning; and the parents'
right to request an evaluation by the committee on special education to
determine whether the student has a disability.
(e) The results of the diagnostic screening
shall be reviewed and a written report of each student screened shall be
prepared by appropriately qualified school district staff. Such report shall
include a description of diagnostic screening devices used, the student's
performance on those devices and, if required, the appropriate
referral.
(f) A student who is
suspected of having a disability shall be referred to the committee on special
education or the committee on preschool special education, as appropriate, no
later than 15 calendar days after completion of such diagnostic screening. Such
referral shall be accompanied by the report of such screening.
(g) A student identified as possibly gifted
shall be reported to the superintendent of schools and to the parent or legal
guardian of such child no later than 15 calendar days after completion of such
screening. Such referral shall be accompanied by the report of such
screening.
(h) A student identified
as possibly being limited English proficient shall be assessed in accordance
with Part 154 of this Title.