What is LEAD-K?
By Lucia Rogerson, Tony Ronco, Terrylene Sacchetti
H&V Communicator – Fall 2018
1. What is LEAD-K?
The vision of LEAD-K is that all children who are deaf or hard of hearing, ages 0 to 5, achieve Kindergarten Readiness regardless of the language or languages they use. The goal is to measure (in an age-comparable way) language development outcomes with Language Development Assessments, using Language Development Milestones to convey the results. This goal will ensure the language foundation to achieve Kindergarten Readiness will be appropriately developed and it will improve accountability by preventing language delays that are all too common in the field. The original LEAD-K bill was passed in California with the cooperation and co-sponsorship of the California Coalition of Option Schools and the California Association of the Deaf. LEAD-K is a Deaf-led grassroots organization willing to work with all stakeholders who want accountability in language development outcomes. The LEAD-K bill was designed from the start to be inclusive of language, whether ASL or English or both. One of the important ways to ensure that “English” is inclusive for all is this clarifier contained in the model bill: “English” includes spoken English, written English, or English with the use of visual supplements.”
So in parent terms, what does that mean? We as parents with our child’s IFSP or IEP team gain an early indicator that gives clear information about the growth of our child’s language foundation by measuring it. For teams of early interventionists, preschool teachers and related service providers, long gone will be the days of cloudy messaging about the rate of progress and even guessing if our children are achieving age-appropriate language development. Instead, those language outcomes will be objectively measured.
2. What should parents know about LEAD-K?
The measurement of language development outcomes is inclusive of any language or combination of languages the child is using. LEAD-K legislates measuring the resulting outcome, not the method of how to achieve that outcome–which remains the job of parents and the IFSP or IEP team.
Once a Language Development Outcome measurement is determined, the result will either provide positive validation for the IFSP or IEP team that age appropriate outcomes are on target, or be leverage for action by the team if language growth is lagging. Every child is a unique and learns differently. LEAD-K brings a new tool for accountability for the team to serve the individual child’s needs.
In the state of California, a committee of stakeholders chose the SKI-HI Language Development Scale assessment. It was judged and recommended by this committee to be an excellent assessment from birth to three. For ages four and five, improvements were needed, which SKI-HI is committed to bringing about. The SKI-HI Language Development Scale can be equally applied to auditory (English or other languages) and visual language (ASL).
Note: There is an emphasis on English in the wording of LEAD-K model bill because it is our nation’s predominant language of instruction, but the IDEA provides for “language of home” in the federal law as well.
The bottom line for parents is that LEAD-K requires ongoing measurement of language development outcomes in to protect children against language delays. With an objective measurement in an age comparable way, the overall educational system for our children has the means to become more accountable.
3. What issues are at the forefront of LEAD-K?
LEAD –K is intended to increase the efficacy of instruction through accountability measures focused on the outcome result, without determining HOW a family, IFSP or IEP team, or teacher provides instruction. When a LEAD-K bill becomes law in a state, local stakeholders determine which age comparable language assessments will be used and which language milestones will be used to convey the results for a visual and/or auditory language. If a child is meeting their age appropriate language outcomes, the team celebrates, then continues to set age-appropriate goals based on language development norms. If a child is lagging in language development, the team, including the parents, will be looking at where additional supports can be provided for this unique learner, rather than “wait and see” how in six to twelve more months of the status quo might result in progress.
There is an important difference between measuring the result, the language development outcome, and the various ways how that outcome may be achieved. Action may be taken through a modality, a therapy, a service, a communication tool or an educational theory. LEAD-K legislation does not usurp the decisions that parents with the IFSP or IEP team make. LEAD-K only equips parents and their child’s teams with an objective measurement of Language Development outcomes and so they can use that information to benefit the child’s progress.
Inclusivity of LEAD-K
Wording in the LEAD-K model bill was designed from the start to be inclusive. Within the continuum of stakeholder communities, there has been an unfortunate long history of mistrust. Some states have had conflict. One misstepped on inclusive wording, and inadvertently used the word “and” for their bill when identifying languages, rather than “or”, “and/or” as the model legislation suggests. Unfortunately, that has flamed fear and mistrust in social media, which has affected the national brand.
Additionally, there are other proposed bills focusing on informational parent packets, therapies, services or methodologies instead of the actual measurement of language development outcomes. In many cases, this has caused confusion where the critical need to measure foundational language outcomes gets lost in the mix. LEAD-K wants and hopes to work with all stakeholders to accomplish measuring language development outcomes so that all children who are deaf or hard of hearing can achieve Kindergarten Readiness.
LEAD-K is at its heart is an accountability movement. From a parent’s perspective, having their child achieve an appropriate language foundation from the start, preserves their child’s ability to succeed in this world, the goal of Kindergarten Readiness. Many parents are concerned that preschool and kindergarten evaluations are not specific enough to when it comes to language to be able to highlight delays that may be subtle; LEAD-K requires measurement of language development outcomes that are specific to children who are deaf/hard of hearing.
4. Where can I find more information about LEAD-K?
Parents can find the following recommended resources:
This is the link to the original California bill that passed. That bill is the basis for the LEAD-K model bill (not yet published): https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billCompareClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB210
This is a link to the Language Development Milestones selected by the California ad-hoc advisory committee: https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/ss/dh/sb210langmilestones.asp
The LEAD-K website has several FAQs. There is a very popular document titled “LEAD-K Mythbusters” available as a pdf download that answers many questions. http://www.lead-k.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/LEAD-K-Mythbusters.pdf
For further information contact: info@lead-k.org
Authors:
Lucia Rogerson is a wife and mother to two children, Presley and Heath. She advocates for language acquisition for all Deaf/hard of hearing children and believes that no decision should be made for a Deaf person without consulting a Deaf person. She works as a Group Marketing Manager for a medical device company in Silicon Valley dedicated to providing minimally invasive surgery to patients worldwide.
Tony Ronco is a dad, a husband, and an engineer. He and his wife Jenny have two children, Austin and Dakota. Tony has shared a particular passion for consensus building, family inclusion, and literacy in his volunteer work with California Hands & Voices and Hands & Voices (HQ).
Terrylene Sacchetti is a poet, storyteller, advocate and currently in her last year of studies in Psychology & Early Childhood, and a parent of a Deaf child, Catalene.
They are equally passionate about mental health of Deaf community of all ages and remember their loved one, son and brother, Gianni who crossed over. ~