Educational Interpreters and Access to Education for Deaf and HOH Students

MetroGuy03 said:
Yeah. I didn't know the difference between special education and Deaf education until I went to Western Oregon University that have both programs for that. They explained me the differences. Now I know.



Very true. Only way to get better interpreters if deaf children's parents get involved and fight for their deaf children's better education. I know many deaf children possibly will not like it if their parents join them in their classrooms to watch interpreters to make sure they're good or doing their jobs. That will worth it and make big difference for sure. That is too bad not many parents of deaf children are not involved in their lives. If they do, they could make huge differences for deaf children and their futures.
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You're ahead of many of the teachers responsible for teaching deaf children in mainstream or oral placements. They have no idea of the differences. I find that not only sad, but a terrible threat to the quality of education children in these programs receive.
 
jillio said:
You're ahead of many of the teachers responsible for teaching deaf children in mainstream or oral placements. They have no idea of the differences. I find that not only sad, but a terrible threat to the quality of education children in these programs receive.
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Are you sure? Every teacher should know it before they gets their degrees in teaching. If not... Education system needs to transform asap.

I don't think that many republican/democrat governors or US presidents are really aware of current education issues. They just changed the laws or pass the bills without doing their research on it first. For example, George W. Bush passed the bill, Do Not Leave The Child Behind that doesn't help US education system to get better but made it worse for many US schools. I think we need to do something about that to let them know that their bills are not working at all or bring up new bill that WILL help deaf education and special education programs. It is seen like these are not their top priorities.
 
rockdrummer said:
I was kind of shocked at the 60 percent number and hope it's not that bad anymore.
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I just have to say this.

I do not in any way disagree that there are a lot of unqualified interpreters working in education. By "unqualified" I mean ethically and/or linguistically. However, I would hesitate before accepting numbers based on interpreter tests like the EIPA (or any of them, not just that one).

Many interpreters I know are very bad at these tests -- including me! I am a really good test-taker in any situation EXCEPT interpreting. And then there's one of the best interpreters I know who failed her NIC performance test. I was completely shocked to hear it.

I know there's really no other objective or empirical data to go by, but just keep in mind all the things such as test-taker's anxiety, test bias, scorer's bias, etc. etc. I can't imagine it's true that 60% of interpreters in the educational system suck. However I do not disagree in the least that deaf students are not being served in mainstream education.
 
Interpretrator said:
I just have to say this.

I do not in any way disagree that there are a lot of unqualified interpreters working in education. By "unqualified" I mean ethically and/or linguistically. However, I would hesitate before accepting numbers based on interpreter tests like the EIPA (or any of them, not just that one).

Many interpreters I know are very bad at these tests -- including me! I am a really good test-taker in any situation EXCEPT interpreting. And then there's one of the best interpreters I know who failed her NIC performance test. I was completely shocked to hear it.

I know there's really no other objective or empirical data to go by, but just keep in mind all the things such as test-taker's anxiety, test bias, scorer's bias, etc. etc. I can't imagine it's true that 60% of interpreters in the educational system suck. However I do not disagree in the least that deaf students are not being served in mainstream education.
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Well said.
 
jillio said:
Actually, they are all supposed to be certified according to federal law. But unless a complaint is filed with the DOJ, the school system is not forced into compliance with the law. Parents need to learn to demand nothing less than a certified interpreter.
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There is no federal law that requires an interpreter to be certified. The law says interpreters are to be qualified. Right now, certification is the best assurance that an interpreter is qualified.
 
Interpretrator said:
I just have to say this.

I do not in any way disagree that there are a lot of unqualified interpreters working in education. By "unqualified" I mean ethically and/or linguistically. However, I would hesitate before accepting numbers based on interpreter tests like the EIPA (or any of them, not just that one).

Many interpreters I know are very bad at these tests -- including me! I am a really good test-taker in any situation EXCEPT interpreting. And then there's one of the best interpreters I know who failed her NIC performance test. I was completely shocked to hear it.

I know there's really no other objective or empirical data to go by, but just keep in mind all the things such as test-taker's anxiety, test bias, scorer's bias, etc. etc. I can't imagine it's true that 60% of interpreters in the educational system suck. However I do not disagree in the least that deaf students are not being served in mainstream education.
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Thanks for that insight and I know exactly what you mean. In my field it's the exact opposite. There are people that come in certified because they are able to pass tests but really don't have a clue when it comes to real world applications.
 
MetroGuy03 said:
Are you sure? Every teacher should know it before they gets their degrees in teaching. If not... Education system needs to transform asap.

I don't think that many republican/democrat governors or US presidents are really aware of current education issues. They just changed the laws or pass the bills without doing their research on it first. For example, George W. Bush passed the bill, Do Not Leave The Child Behind that doesn't help US education system to get better but made it worse for many US schools. I think we need to do something about that to let them know that their bills are not working at all or bring up new bill that WILL help deaf education and special education programs. It is seen like these are not their top priorities.
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Yes, I am sure. The teachers in the mainstream that are responsible for educating our deaf children often have never encountered a deaf child, and unless they are certified in special ed. they have no idea regarding methods of education for deaf children or the unique needs of deaf children. And they all see deaf ed as the same thing as special ed.
 
HoHGuyOhio said:
There is no federal law that requires an interpreter to be certified. The law says interpreters are to be qualified. Right now, certification is the best assurance that an interpreter is qualified.
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And how is qualification determined other than through certification. And interpreters under the ADA that interpret ecuationally are supposed to certified. I notice you are from Ohio as well. Ohio has been out of compliance with the ADA for the past 20 years.
 
jillio said:
Yes, I am sure. The teachers in the mainstream that are responsible for educating our deaf children often have never encountered a deaf child, and unless they are certified in special ed. they have no idea regarding methods of education for deaf children or the unique needs of deaf children. And they all see deaf ed as the same thing as special ed.
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That is sad. Sighs... Hearing people are sure have a lot of things to learn about deaf people that they're not part of special education programs. Deaf people are not disabled people. Sighs... :ugh3:
 
MetroGuy03 said:
That is sad. Sighs... Hearing people are sure have a lot of things to learn about deaf people that they're not part of special education programs. Deaf people are not disabled people. Sighs... :ugh3:
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I agree with you completely. That is why I spend a good part of my time advocating for deaf students.
 
jillio said:
And how is qualification determined other than through certification.
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In-house testing, for one, assuming the testers know what they're doing. For example, there are agencies that have their own rigorous testing for interpreters who are not certified. From my own experience one test was very similar to the CI/CT exam; there was no written component but of course there was an interview to verify applicants' ethical standards.

I'm a little confused, though, because I didn't think the ADA mandated certification for educational interpreters. That's why, I thought, states all have different requirements. Can you point me to that part? (I don't mean this as a challenge, I'm genuinely curious.)
 
Interpretrator said:
...I'm a little confused, though, because I didn't think the ADA mandated certification for educational interpreters. That's why, I thought, states all have different requirements. ...
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That's what I thought, too. Certification for educational terps is a state-by-state regulation, not federal.

But the times they are a' changin', so I could be behind on that one. :dunno:
 
That was my original point. There is no FEDERAL law that requires interpreters (educational or otherwise) to be certified. In Ohio the requirement for educational interpreters is a license from the Department of Education, which is given to interpreters who have an AAS in Interpreting from an accredited college's approved Interpreter Training Program.
 
Interpretrator said:
In-house testing, for one, assuming the testers know what they're doing. For example, there are agencies that have their own rigorous testing for interpreters who are not certified. From my own experience one test was very similar to the CI/CT exam; there was no written component but of course there was an interview to verify applicants' ethical standards.

I'm a little confused, though, because I didn't think the ADA mandated certification for educational interpreters. That's why, I thought, states all have different requirements. Can you point me to that part? (I don't mean this as a challenge, I'm genuinely curious.)
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The ADA mandates only for "qualified", individual states madate for certification. Actually, Ohio's law mandates that all educational terps be certified, but they are out of compliance, and have been for 2 decades.
 
jillio said:
The ADA mandates only for "qualified", individual states madate for certification.
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May or may not mandate certification. I know you're passionate about this topic but I would just be careful with statements like this when you're making your case:

jillio said:
And interpreters under the ADA that interpret ecuationally are supposed to certified.
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jillio said:
Actually, Ohio's law mandates that all educational terps be certified, but they are out of compliance, and have been for 2 decades.
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Ohio's law doesn't require certification. Educational (K-12) interpreters have to be licensed. To be licensed, an interpreter has to have a degree from a state-approved interpreter training program.

Can you point me to the section of the Ohio Revised Code that requires educational interpreters to be certified?
 
This discussion and what I have witnessed doesn't give me a real good feeling about the quality of the terps out there. And agian, I am sure there are some very good ones. Another large problem with the question of how to fix it.
 
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