I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1959 
To promote and ensure delivery of high-quality special education and related 
services to students with visual disabilities or who are deaf or hard 
of hearing or deaf-blind through instructional methodologies meeting 
their unique learning needs, to enhance accountability for the provision 
of such services, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 17, 2021 
Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. 
MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. NORTON, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 
Mr. STANTON, Mr. MOULTON, Miss RICE of New York, Mrs. NAPOLI-
TANO, Mr. RYAN, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. EVANS, 
Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, and Mr. 
NADLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To promote and ensure delivery of high-quality special edu-
cation and related services to students with visual disabil-
ities or who are deaf or hard of hearing or deaf-blind 
through instructional methodologies meeting their unique 
learning needs, to enhance accountability for the provi-
sion of such services, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES; TABLE OF CON-
TENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act’’. 
(b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise expressly 
provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal 
is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, 
a section or other provision, the reference shall be consid-
ered to be made to a section or other provision of the Indi-
viduals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 
et seq.). 
(c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; references; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Purposes. 
Sec. 3. Findings. 
TITLE I—IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SPECIAL EDU-
CATION AND RELATED SERVICES FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE 
DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING 
Subtitle A—General Provisions 
Sec. 101. Identifying students who are deaf or hard of hearing. 
Sec. 102. State plans. 
Sec. 103. Evaluations. 
Sec. 104. Individualized education program team. 
Sec. 105. Consideration of special factors. 
Sec. 106. Monitoring. 
Sec. 107. Continuum of service delivery options. 
Sec. 108. Technical assistance for parents and educators of students who are 
deaf or hard of hearing. 
Subtitle B—Improving the Effectiveness of Early Intervention for Deaf or 
Hard of Hearing Infants and Toddlers and Their Families 
Sec. 111. Qualified personnel. 
Sec. 112. Natural environment. 
Sec. 113. Content of plan. 
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Subtitle C—National Activities To Improve Education of Children With 
Disabilities 
Sec. 121. Personnel development to improve services and results for children 
with disabilities. 
TITLE II—IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SPECIAL EDU-
CATION AND RELATED SERVICES FOR STUDENTS WITH VIS-
UAL DISABILITIES 
Subtitle A—General Provisions 
Sec. 201. Identifying students with visual disabilities. 
Sec. 202. State plans. 
Sec. 203. Evaluations. 
Sec. 204. Consideration of special factors. 
Sec. 205. Technical assistance for parents and educators of students with visual 
disabilities. 
Subtitle B—Anne Sullivan Macy Center on Visual Disability and Educational 
Excellence 
Sec. 211. Center establishment and mission. 
Sec. 212. Administration; eligibility; governance; structure. 
Sec. 213. Activities. 
Sec. 214. Authorization of appropriations and carryover. 
Sec. 215. Relationship to other programs and activities. 
TITLE III—IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SPECIAL EDU-
CATION AND RELATED SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH 
WHO ARE DEAF-BLIND 
Subtitle A—General Provisions 
Sec. 301. Identifying children who are deaf-blind. 
Sec. 302. Related services. 
Sec. 303. State plans. 
Sec. 304. Evaluations. 
Sec. 305. Consideration of special factors. 
Sec. 306. Technical assistance for parents and educators of children who are 
deaf-blind. 
Sec. 307. Conforming regulations. 
Subtitle B—Improving the Effectiveness of Early Intervention for Infants and 
Toddlers With Deaf-Blindness and Their Families 
Sec. 311. Content of plan. 
Subtitle C—National Activities To Improve the Education of Children With 
Disabilities 
Sec. 321. Personnel development to improve services and results for children 
with disabilities; ensuring sufficient teachers of the deaf-blind 
and early intervention specialists. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are as follows: 
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(1) To better ensure delivery of high quality 
special education and related services to students 
with visual disabilities or who are deaf or hard of 
hearing or who are deaf-blind through specialized in-
structional services and methodologies designed to 
meet their unique language, communication, and 
learning needs. 
(2) To better ensure delivery of high quality 
early intervention services to infants and toddlers 
who are deaf or hard of hearing or who are deaf- 
blind and their families through specialized services 
and methodologies designed to meet their unique 
language, communication, and other developmental 
needs. 
(3) To foster the proliferation of research sup-
porting the development and evaluation of effective 
and innovative assessments and instructional meth-
odologies consonant with the unique learning needs 
of students with visual disabilities. 
(4) To enhance accountability for the provision 
of such services. 
(5) To support the development of personnel 
serving students with visual disabilities or who are 
deaf or hard of hearing or who are deaf-blind. 
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SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) When American author, Mark Twain, im-
mortalized Helen Keller’s teacher, Anne Sullivan 
Macy, with the moniker ‘‘the miracle worker’’, his 
words, though meant as praise, reflect the mis-
conception that educating individuals with disabil-
ities is a nearly insurmountable task requiring ex-
traordinary feats performed by gifted and saintly 
persons. Rather, the work of teaching children with 
disabilities can and does occur when committed and 
qualified but everyday special educators are properly 
prepared and supported to practice their professions. 
Yet, the educational systems within which they act 
must also be held accountable for results. 
(2) In 1817, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and a 
deaf teacher, Laurent Clerc, opened the first Amer-
ican school for deaf students—the American School 
for the Deaf—with young Alice Cogswell as its first 
pupil. Ultimately the school grew into a national in-
stitution and the mother of many other schools. As 
Alice demonstrated, deaf and hard of hearing chil-
dren can learn and achieve to high levels when they 
have full access to language and communication; are 
taught by professionals with specialized training; 
and have access to educational placements that rec-
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ognize and provide for their language, communica-
tion, social-emotional, and academic needs. 
(3) Deaf and hard of hearing children who are 
identified early and receive appropriate early inter-
vention from specialized, qualified providers achieve 
higher language and communication outcomes. How-
ever, currently, early intervention services typically 
are not provided in a timely manner and severe 
shortages of specialized early intervention profes-
sionals result in many deaf and hard of hearing chil-
dren not reaching their developmental potential. 
Similarly, research demonstrates that students with 
visual disabilities are among the highest performing 
students with disabilities in terms of academic 
achievement, and yet they are among the least em-
ployed, even after successful accomplishment of post- 
secondary academic objectives. 
(4) Likewise, children who are deaf-blind have 
the same capacity to learn and achieve as any other 
children. However, they must have ongoing access to 
the same environmental and educational information 
that their sighted and hearing peers can access auto-
matically. These children require direct learning ex-
periences, including hands-on experiences and in-
tense involvement in educational routines and activi-
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ties. They must receive specialized direct instruction 
in their preferred mode of communication in a range 
of academic and functional areas. 
(5) Students who are deaf, hard of hearing, or 
deaf-blind require more language and communica-
tion access and support to acquire skills than they 
are currently receiving. It has been the U.S. Depart-
ment of Education’s position since 1992 that ‘‘[a]ny 
educational setting that does not meet the commu-
nication and related needs of a child who is deaf 
does not allow for the provision of [a Free Appro-
priate Public Education] and cannot be considered 
the [Least Restrictive Environment] for that child’’. 
(6) Moreover, a principal way that sighted, 
hearing students acquire knowledge and skills is 
through incidental learning, naturally observing oth-
ers and the environment. Deficits in incidental learn-
ing leave students with sensory disabilities behind in 
an array of skill areas. In addition to core aca-
demics, deaf and hard of hearing students, for exam-
ple, must also receive specialized instruction and 
services designed to maximize their capacity to learn 
effectively and live productively and independently. 
Similarly, students who are blind or visually im-
paired must also receive instruction in the expanded 
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core curriculum, a comprehensive array of special-
ized instruction and services maximizing the capacity 
of students with visual disabilities to learn effectively 
and live productively and independently. 
(7) The widespread use by States of Individuals 
with Disabilities Education Act’s disability cat-
egories has led to a sizable undercount of students 
with sensory disabilities and, consequently, a lack of 
recognition of the extent of the systemic need for the 
delivery of appropriate instructional services meeting 
their unique needs. This occurs in large measure be-
cause students with sensory disabilities who also 
have additional disabilities are frequently formally 
classified as having multiple disabilities. Con-
sequently, their vision, hearing, or concomitant vi-
sion and hearing disabilities and related support 
needs are not fully acknowledged. 
(8) Children who are deaf-blind should receive 
one-to-one services from interveners, who have train-
ing 
and 
specialized 
skills 
in 
deaf-blindness. 
Interveners play a critical role in the provision of a 
Free and Appropriate Public Education, because 
they provide access to the information these children 
need in order to learn and develop concepts, to facili-
tate their communication development and inter-
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actions in their preferred mode of communication, 
and to promote their social and emotional well-being. 
(9) A national resource in visual disabilities is 
needed to supplement the work of State and local 
educational agencies through student enrichment ac-
tivities; to support teachers of students with visual 
impairments and related services personnel through 
state-of-the-art continuing education opportunities; 
and to spur the further advancement of instructional 
services for students with visual disabilities through 
scientific research and evidence-based best practices. 
TITLE I—IMPROVING THE EF-
FECTIVENESS 
OF 
SPECIAL 
EDUCATION 
AND 
RELATED 
SERVICES 
FOR 
STUDENTS 
WHO ARE DEAF OR HARD OF 
HEARING 
Subtitle A—General Provisions 
SEC. 101. IDENTIFYING STUDENTS WHO ARE DEAF OR 
HARD OF HEARING. 
(a) SERVING ALL CHILDREN WHO ARE DEAF OR 
HARD OF HEARING REGARDLESS OF CLASSIFICATION.— 
Section 612(a)(3) (20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(3)) is amended at 
the end by adding the following: 
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‘‘(C) SERVING CHILDREN WHO ARE DEAF 
OR HARD OF HEARING.—When a State classi-
fies children by disability, the State, in com-
plying with subsection (a), identifies, locates 
and evaluates children who are deaf or hard of 
hearing who are, or may be, classified in a dis-
ability category other than hearing impairment 
and provides (without prejudice to such classi-
fication) special education and related services 
to such children, including such services deter-
mined appropriate based on proper evaluation 
as would be provided to children classified in 
the State as deaf or hard of hearing.’’. 
(b) DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING.—Section 
618 (20 U.S.C. 1418) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(e) ACCOUNTING FOR DEAF AND HARD OF HEAR-
ING STUDENTS.—In addition to the data collection and 
reporting requirements of subsections (a) through (d) and 
subject to such provisions, the State and the Secretary of 
the Interior shall, with respect to children classified in a 
disability category other than hearing impairment or deaf-
ness, include the number and percentage of such children 
in each disability category who are also deaf or hard of 
hearing.’’. 
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(c) 
CHILD
WITH
A
DISABILITY.—Section 
602(3)(A)(i) (20 U.S.C. 1401(3)(A)(i)) is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘who is deaf or hard of hearing 
or’’ before ‘‘with intellectual disabilities,’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘hearing impairments (including 
deafness),’’. 
SEC. 102. STATE PLANS. 
Section 612 (20 U.S.C. 1412) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) ADDENDUM CONCERNING STUDENTS WHO ARE 
DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the provi-
sions of subsection (c), a State shall not be deemed 
in compliance with this section unless, not later than 
two years after the date of the enactment of the 
Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act, the 
State files with the Secretary a written addendum to 
the plan required by this section describing how the 
State ensures that— 
‘‘(A) children who are deaf or hard of 
hearing (regardless of the State’s use of dis-
ability categories or the extent to which deaf or 
hard of hearing children may be classified in 
disability categories other than hearing impair-
ment or deafness) are evaluated by qualified 
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professionals, using valid and reliable assess-
ments, for such children’s need for instruction 
and services meeting their unique language and 
communication, literacy, academic, social and 
related learning needs, including instruction 
which may be needed by children without dis-
abilities or with other disabilities but which 
must be specifically designed, modified, or deliv-
ered to meet the unique language and commu-
nication and academic and related learning 
needs of children who are deaf or hard of hear-
ing; 
‘‘(B) there is sufficient availability of per-
sonnel within the State qualified to provide the 
evaluation and instruction described in subpara-
graph (A) to all children within the State re-
quiring such instruction; and 
‘‘(C) all children who are deaf or hard of 
hearing within the State who need special edu-
cation and related services, whether or not such 
children have other disabilities, receive such in-
struction and are not being served solely in ac-
cordance with section 504 of the Rehabilitation 
Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794). 
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‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—In preparing the addendum 
described in paragraph (1), the State shall— 
‘‘(A) specifically address how the State 
meets the needs of deaf and hard of hearing 
students to support appropriate, measurable 
progress in language development, including 
American Sign Language and spoken language 
with or without visual supports, and including 
the provision of school-related opportunities for 
direct communications with peers and profes-
sional personnel in the child’s language and op-
portunities for direct instruction in the child’s 
language, as well as instruction in audiology, 
age appropriate career education, communica-
tion and language, social skills, functional skills 
for academic success, self-determination and ad-
vocacy (including preparation for transition to 
work or higher education), social emotional 
skills, technology, and support for the student 
through family education; and 
‘‘(B) consult with individuals and organiza-
tions with expertise in the education of children 
who are deaf or hard of hearing, including par-
ents, schools for the deaf, consumer and advo-
cacy organizations, State commissions of the 
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deaf, researchers, teachers of students who are 
deaf or hard of hearing, and others the State 
may identify.’’. 
SEC. 103. EVALUATIONS. 
Section 614(b) (20 U.S.C. 1414(b)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(7) CHILDREN WHO ARE DEAF OR HARD OF 
HEARING.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In conducting the as-
sessments prescribed in paragraph (3)(B), chil-
dren who are deaf or hard of hearing (including 
children who may have additional disabilities) 
shall be evaluated on language and communica-
tion proficiency levels, including expressive, re-
ceptive, and pragmatic skills, and ability to ac-
cess grade level content in the student’s pri-
mary language, including American Sign Lan-
guage and spoken language with or without vis-
ual supports or hearing assistance technology, 
and written English. Determination of the need 
for special education and related services shall 
include evaluation of such children’s unique 
learning needs, including needs for direct com-
munication, without an intermediary such as an 
interpreter, with peers and professionals in the 
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