H.R. 9195

Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act

Sponsor: Morgan McGarvey

30 cosponsors
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Official summary

Written by the Congressional Research Service.

Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act

This bill expands special education and related services for children and youth who are deaf, hard of hearing, deafdisabled, blind, visually impaired, or deafblind.

For example, the bill requires states to more specifically identify and evaluate children who are deaf, hard of hearing, deafdisabled, blind, visually impaired, or deafblind to better allow for the provision of appropriate services.

In addition, a state's closure of a specialized school serving children who are blind or deaf shall result in a reduction of its financial support for special education and related services.

The bill also authorizes support, including grants for training special education personnel, to prepare individuals to become qualified teachers and early intervention specialists for children who are deaf, hard of hearing, deafdisabled, blind, visually impaired, or deafblind.

Finally, the bill establishes within the Department of Education the Anne Sullivan Macy Center on Visual Disability and Educational Excellence to better support students with visual disabilities receiving special education and related services.

Text of the bill

Expand all
Sec. 2. Purposes

The purposes of this Act are as follows:

(1) To better ensure delivery of high-quality special education and related services to children and youth who are blind or visually impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, deafdisabled, or deafblind through specialized instructional services and methodologies designed to meet their unique language and learning needs.

(2) To better ensure delivery of high-quality early intervention services to children and youth who are deaf, hard of hearing, deafdisabled, or deafblind, and their families, through specialized services and methodologies designed to meet their unique language and other developmental needs.

(3) To foster the proliferation of research supporting the development and evaluation of effective and innovative assessments and instructional methodologies consonant with the unique learning needs of children and youth who are blind or visually impaired.

(4) To enhance accountability for the provision of such services.

(5) To support the development of personnel serving children and youth who are blind or visually impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, deafdisabled, or deafblind.

I IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AND RELATED SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH WHO ARE DEAF, HARD OF HEARING, OR DEAFDISABLED

A General Provisions

B Improving the Effectiveness of Early Intervention for Deaf, Hard of Hearing or Deafdisabled Infants and Toddlers and Their Families

C National Activities To Improve Education of Children With Disabilities

II IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AND RELATED SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH WHO ARE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED

A General Provisions

B Specialized Early Childhood Intervention Services to Infants and Toddlers Who are Blind or Visually Impaired

C Anne Sullivan Macy Center on Visual Disability and Educational Excellence

III IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AND RELATED SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH WHO ARE DEAFBLIND

A General Provisions

B Improving the Effectiveness of Early Intervention for Infants and Toddlers who are Deafblind and Their Families

C National Activities To Improve the Education of Children with Disabilities