The administrator of South Dakota Services for the Deaf shall establish an advisory committee to solicit input from experts on the selection of language developmental milestones for children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing that are equivalent to milestones for children who are not deaf or hard-of-hearing, for inclusion in the parent resource pursuant to §§ 13-33B-5 and 13-33B-7.

The advisory committee may also make recommendations on the selection and administration of the educator tools or assessments referenced in § 13-33B-6.

The advisory committee shall consist of at least nine but no more than fifteen volunteers, at least four of whom are deaf or hard-of-hearing, and all of whom practice within the fields of education or services for the deaf or hard-of-hearing. The advisory committee must include:

(1) A parent of a child who is deaf or hard-of-hearing, who uses both ASL and English;

(2) A parent of a child who is deaf or hard-of-hearing, who uses only spoken English, with or without visual supplements;

(3) A parent of a child who is Deaf-Plus;

(4) A representative from South Dakota Services for the Deaf, who is fluent in both ASL and English;

(5) A representative from the Department of Education; and

(6) At least four members who may be any of the following:

(a) An expert who researches language outcomes for deaf or hard-of-hearing children, using ASL and English;

(b) A credentialed teacher of deaf or hard-of-hearing students, with expertise in curriculum and instruction in ASL and English;

(c) A credentialed teacher of deaf or hard-of-hearing students, with expertise in curriculum and instruction in spoken English, with or without visual supplements;

(d) An advocate from an association in this state that represents the deaf and advocates for teaching, using both ASL and English;

(e) An early intervention specialist who works with deaf or hard-of-hearing infants and toddlers, using both ASL and English;

(f) A credentialed teacher of deaf or hard-of-hearing students, with expertise in ASL and English language assessments;

(g) A representative from a parent training information center in this state;

(h) A representative from an organization that provides communication services for the deaf;

(i) A psychologist who has expertise in assessing deaf or hard-of-hearing children and is fluent in ASL and English;

(j) A speech language pathologist; or

(k) A pediatric audiologist.

The committee may advise the department on the content and administration of instruments used to assess the language development and literacy development of deaf or hard-of-hearing children, to ensure the appropriate use of the instruments with deaf or hard-of-hearing children.

The committee may make recommendations regarding future research to improve the measurement of progress of deaf or hard-of-hearing children, in language and literacy.

Source: SL 2018, ch 100, § 6; SL 2023, ch 62, § 4.