A person employed in the Idaho public schools, kindergarten through grade twelve (12), to provide interpreting services to students who are Deaf, hard of hearing or DeafBlind.
Legal Requirements in Pre K-12
To work as an interpreter in a Pre K-12 setting, an interpreter must either be licensed in accordance with IC 54-29, a qualified educational interpreter as defined in the Idaho Educational Interpreter Act, or fall under a specific exemption, namely an emergency authorization or practicing within 12 months of graduation from an accredited interpreter training program.
If an interpreter is not licensed but is working as an educational interpreter, the scope of their practice is limited. They may ONLY interpret for students in school-related settings. Such settings include classroom instruction, school sports, school plays, therapy that the school provides, etc. They may NOT interpret for someone other than students, including Deaf staff, Deaf parents, or Deaf visitors. They may NOT interpret for the student for non-school related actives such as club sports, private appointments, private therapy, etc. They may NOT interpret interactions that happen with the student on school grounds that do not fall under the purview of the school, for example police investigations or visits with social workers.
Special education instructional assistants and paraeducators are not sign language interpreters and should not be used as such.
Educational interpreters should look to the Educational Interpreter Code of Ethics produced by the National Association of Interpreters in Education (NAIE) for ethical guidance.
The following legislation regulates the sign language interpreting profession in Idaho. For a more detailed explanation of these laws and other laws that guide the use of sign language interpreter services, see (link).
- Idaho License Law, IC§54-29
- The RID/NAD Code of Professional Conduct (CPC) is incorporated by reference.
- Rules of Speech, Hearing, and Communication Services Licensure Board
- The Idaho Educational Interpreter Act
- Idaho Court Administrative Rule 52 (link)
Qualified Educational Interpreters are interpreters who are not licensed to interpret in general settings, but are qualified to interpret in Pre-K-12 classrooms and school-related settings. The Idaho Educational Interpreter Act has defined a Qualified Educational Interpreter as someone who has passed the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA) at a threshold of 3.5 or higher.
Emergency Authorization allows someone without credentials to work as an educational interpreter in an Idaho public school while they work to become qualified. Individuals must submit an application to the authorized board including a detailed professional plan to meet the minimum standard in the Educational Interpreter Act.
Individuals also must complete the EIPA Pre-Hire screening administered by the State Interpreter Education Coordinator. More information about the Pre-Hire screening can be found at www.classroominterpreting.org.
If approved, Emergency Authorization is valid for two years with the opportunity for a single one year extension for good cause. Emergency Authorization by statute is not available to those individuals who have previously been employed by an Idaho public school as an interpreter.
See Idaho Training Clearinghouse for emergency authorization application.
A graduate of an accredited interpreter education program may serve as an educational interpreter in Idaho public schools for the 12 months immediately following graduation.
Roles & Responsibilities
Extracurricular Activities
School affiliated events that occur beyond the traditional school day, even when not academically-focused are essential components of holistic educational programming and must be accessible to students.
Interpreting Conflicts
Contracting from outside the school must be carefully considered for sensitive situations.
- Discussions regarding an education interpreter by the deaf student, parent, or employee.
- Personnel-related meetings involving colleagues.
- Personal counseling services during the school day.
- IEP meetings for which the interpreter is a team member.
Legal Situations
Neutral interpreters with specialized credentials may be required for, but not limited to the following settings:
IEP Team Members
As an integral part of the IEP team, the educational interpreter collaborates with the classroom teacher, the teacher of deaf and hard of hearing students and other team members to:
NASDSE Optimizing Outcomes for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students
Teaching Sign Language
Educational interpreters can help facilitate social development by supporting students' conversational attempts and informally teaching conversational sign language to teachers, staff, and peers. Interpreters may also support informal sign language activities such as student-led clubs. However, the provision of formal ASL instruction, whether for credit or community-based, requires teaching credentials that typically extend beyond interpreters' expected qualifications.
Fostering Independence
Educational interpreters are expected to foster independence by reducing the level of extraneous support provided as students mature, preparing them towards becoming autonomous consumers of interpreting services as adults. See the Inverted Pyramid for the Educational Interpreter.
Tutoring
Interpreters may provide tutoring support to students under the direction of the teacher. The interpreter must understand the tutoring role and pedagogy. School districts and interpreters should seek professional development opportunities in these areas.
Language Model
Educational interpreters often serve as sign language models for the students with whom they work. Because of the developing nature of children and youth in educational settings, it is appropriate to provide additional support to facilitate emerging and developing language such as repeating, clarifying, or restructuring information. Strategies that support language development beyond interpretation must be guided by the educational team.
Behavior Management
The classroom teacher is responsible for establishing procedures for and addressing student behavior. Teachers also take the lead in determining the extent that other adults will assist in implementation, taking into account the individual student. Educational interpreters cannot be expected to routinely provide direct correction of students' behavior. An interpreter becoming too involved in the behavior managment of deaf students will interfere with the ability to maintain a professional relationship and skew the perception of an interpreter's role.
Interpreter Supervision
Educational interpreters must be periodically evaluated regarding both their interpreting skills and professional practices. It is essential that interpreter evaluators possess advanced credentials and expertise in the assessment of educational interpreting. Evaluators should be able to articulate specific strengths and suggestions for improvement to the interpreter being evaluated. If a lead interpreter is not available to evaluate other interpreters, districts or educational interpreters may work with the State Interpreter Education Coordinator to provide these services.
Professional Development
Interpreters employed by school districts in Idaho are required to obtain 80 hours of continuing education in the area of interpreting/transliterating every 5 years. Training must be documented.
Interpreters who are licensed are required to complete 10 hours of continuing education in the field of interpreting annually. These hours may also be used to count toward the required hours for any relevant credential or law.
Contingent on funding through the Idaho State Department of Education, the following training opportunities are available to Idaho educational interpreters annually at no cost.
- EIPA Video Conferences: four each year through Boys Town EIPA Diagnostic Center.
- Educational Interpreter Summer Symposium (EISS): hosted on site in Meridian, ID, with a virtual option.
There are several facebook groups specifically designed for educational interpreters to share resources and ask setting specific questions.
- Educational Interpreter Support Group
- Idaho’s Educational Interpreters Support and Resources
Contingent upon support from the Idaho State Department of Education, mentoring opportunities are available to a limited number of interpreters through the Interpreter, Mentorship, Education and Training Program (IMET), through the Training and Assessment Systems for K-12 Interpreters Project (TASK12). Applications generally close at the beginning of fall. Contact the State Interpreter Education Coordinator for more information.
Contingent on funding through the Idaho State Department of Education, the following training opportunities are available to Idaho educational interpreters annually at no cost.
- EIPA Video Conferences: four each year through Boys Town EIPA Diagnostic Center.
- Educational Interpreter Summer Symposium (EISS): hosted on site in Meridian, ID, with a virtual option.
Promoting Student Autonomy
Resources to help you advocate on behalf of your student’s access. Pyramid of support.
What do we need on this page?
Advocacy Resources? Advocating for the student, advocating for yourself
Student: connect with student’s IESDB Consultant, advocating for multiple accommodations (these will overlap with the family resources K-12)
Interpreter: Interpreters as service providers, certified job category recommendation, interpreters as part of the IEP team, working with teachers? does NAIE have a centralized location for these type of resources that we can simply refer to? Educational Interpreters in Idaho’s Schools Guidelines for Administrators, Teachers, and Interpreters guidebook
Contact Information
joelynne.ball@iesdb.org
The State Interpreter Education Coordinator provides support and training opportunities to educational interpreters in the Pre K – 12 settings and the school districts that employ them in Idaho.
Act as a liaison with other state agencies and professionals, present information/inservices as requested. • Assist LEA’s with interviews and hiring process of educational interpreters. • Assist in the development of Educational Interpreter Roles and Responsibilities, Job Description, or other documents. Educational Interpreter Support: • Maintain an email distribution list and disseminate: *workshop and training information *EIPA testing opportunities *Misc. information that is relevant • Be available for support and provide professional guidance and feedback. • Assist with providing in-services/training opportunities for the educational team
General Support: • Act as a general resource for information. • Provide EIPA testing opportunities, performance through TASK12 and written through Local Test Administrator. • Coordinate trainings and skill development workshops for educational interpreters to help satisfy the 80 hours of training every five years required by the Idaho Educational Interpreter Act. • Collaborate with interpreter education programs and professional organizations supporting the profession of interpreting. • Collect data from post-training evaluations for reporting and planning needs. • Stay current on “best-practices” and research. • Present emergency authorization to the Bureau Board of the IESDB
Each Deaf or Hard of Hearing student in Idaho has an IESDB consultant on their team, regardless of their IEP status. Consultants support both the student and the team that works with the student. It can be beneficial for interpreters to develop a working relationship with the regional consultant.
Services provided by consultants:
- Functional listening evaluations
- Language assessment
Documents