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The Educational Interpreting Certificate Program

Every interpreter working with a student who is deaf or hard of hearing knows the complexity, challenges and rewards of the job. Most want access to training that will enhance their services to students. Unfortunately, those opportunities are often limited, at best, and too often are simply nonexistent. The Educational Interpreting Certificate Program (EICP) is designed to fill this need.

The 9-semester Educational Interpreting Certificate Program, with its comprehensive, self-contained courses (including supplemental materials, such as lecture notes, student materials, and instructional videos), is offered via a technology-based delivery system to working educational interpreters. Tuition, fees, instructional materials and summer housing is provided for the interpreter-student through state and/or federal partnerships. Pre-screening criteria, submitted as part of the application packet, recognizes applicants at different levels of interpreting competence.

History
Partners
Core Competencies
Application Requirements
Summer Institutes
Courses
EICP 2008 Recruiting PowerPoint

EICP HISTORY

The Educational Interpreting Certificate Project was the first attempt in the nation to offer sequenced instruction specializing in K-12 classroom interpreting at a distance using a multiple technology delivery system. The three-year pilot project for working educational interpreters in Montana and Wyoming (Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education Award #H029A60064 and state contributions) concluded September 1999, and resulted in:

The EICP curriculum;
A distance faculty with different content expertise who are experienced with various technologies to deliver particular courses;
Freshly created videotaped resource materials;
An academic certificate in Educational Interpreting and
Thirty-two interpreters completed the pilot program.

Following a well-received presentation of the program concept to the Mountain Plains Special Education Directors' meeting in November 1997, eight State Education Agencies (Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming) and the Bureau of Indian Affairs underwrote the total expenses of the program (1999-2001) for Cohort 1. One hundred-eight educational interpreters successfully completed the EICP in that programmatic phase.

A third effort (2000-2005) involved a collaboration with the Mountain Plains Regional Resource Center, the education agencies of Alaska, Arizona, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha working in partnership with an Office of Special Education Programs grant (#H325A000081). Six other states (California, Hawaii, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Nevada) had representation during this period through an independent payment system. Two cohorts totaling 114 interpreter-students completed their educational program in July 2005.

Cohorts 5 & 6 (Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, and Texas), as well as some independently funded individuals from other states, was initiated in the fall of 2005, prepared to support more than 80 educational interpreters through their academic journey (2005-2008).

2008 - 2011 EICP PARTNERS

EICP 2008 Recruiting PowerPoint

STATES

2008
State Reps

Alaska
Idaho
Kansas
Louisiana
Nevada
Nebraska

CORE COMPETENCIES FOR EDUCATIONAL INTERPRETERS

Exit competencies include knowledge and skill sets that are assessed through a portfolio process. Individuals demonstrating the requisite EICP 14 core competencies earn a certificate in Educational Interpreting, and those who cannot receive transcripts of their academic work.

Demonstrate a personal philosophy, including ethics and values, which will guide interpreting practice.
Demonstrate the ability to create and maintain professional relationships through effective interpersonal communication using negotiation, problem-solving and conflict management as necessary.
Demonstrate an understanding of the language development of deaf children as part of their educational experience.
Demonstrate an understanding of the factors that may have an impact upon a deaf student's educational experience.
Demonstrate the ability to simultaneously and accurately interpret or transliterate from ASL or MCE to spoken English.
Demonstrate the ability to simultaneously and accurately interpret or transliterate from spoken English to ASL or MCE.
Demonstrate the ability to analyze her or his own interpreting work and the work of someone else.
Demonstrate effective writing and public speaking skills.
Demonstrate knowledge of the roles and responsibilities of members on an educational team.
Demonstrate knowledge of the roles and responsibilities commonly held by educational interpreters.
Demonstrate an understanding of public education and special education history, laws and processes.
Demonstrate the ability to use technology in support of continuing education, networking and peer support.
Demonstrate knowledge of how to establish appropriate working conditions that foster effective interpretation within an educational setting.
Demonstrate an on-going commitment to professional and personal development, post graduation.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

WE ARE PRESENTLY NOT ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

1. Participants must be working educational interpreters to fully benefit from this training program.

2. As part of the application process, applicants must demonstrate a 2.0 or higher on the
Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA), a national examination system for educational interpreters that is used in approximately 40% of the states in the U.S.

3. Participants must have:

Internet access with highest speed possible
Email address
Windows 2000 or higher
Microsoft Office
Access to a DVD player
Access to a DVD digital camcorder for taping skills work during the distance mentoring course component

Application At the conclusion of the coursework, students retake the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment. This pre/post screening system ascertains improvement of students' interpreting skills. An average of one scale of growth on a 5-point Likert scale is expected for EICP interpreter-students (Johnson & Witter-Merithew, 2004; Schick & Williams, 2004).

Members of the EICP partnerships, to date, have recognized the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment as a requirement (preferred or mandated) for minimum work standards. Therefore, the EICP prepares interpreters to meet their respective states' requirements for employment.
(State Standards)

SUMMER INSTITUTES

The Summer Institutes are an exciting time to work intensively on skill enhancement with the EICP instructional staff! Each Institute is 3 weeks long each summer of the three-year program. During this time, students work on aspects of visual language, spoken language and interpreting theory. The Summer Institutes provide a language immersion experience, since all lectures and work sessions are conducted in ASL.

COURSES

EDI 101: The Interpreting Field (1 credit)
This course provides an introduction to the art and profession of interpreting for deaf and hearing persons, and is designed for those students who already have some knowledge of, or training in, sign language. The student learns what is expected of an interpreter (knowledge, skills, behaviors) and applies this knowledge to a variety of settings.

EDI 111: Child and Language Development (1 credit)
This course focuses on various theories of child development and the acquisition of a first language. It provides the learner with the opportunity to form an overall understanding of how children and youths grow and develop, and the integral role of language in that development.

EDI 112: Language & Learning in Deaf Children (2 credits)
This course provides in-depth information on second language learning, especially as it relates to deaf children. This course also covers the impact of first language acquisition on second language learning, the cultural ramifications of diglossia in the classroom, the development of Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP), theory of mind, and implications for interpreters.

EDI 113: Public & Deaf Education in the US (1 credit)
This course provides an overview of public education and deaf education practices in the US, including: philosophies and purposes of education, school organization, issues and social problems, financial considerations, and accountability. The education of deaf children will be considered from sociocultural view and in relation to public school education.

EDI 114: Educational Interpreting (1 credit)
This course provides students with an understanding of the history of special education and the education of deaf children, as well as the changes in laws, regulations, and trends that have resulted in the mainstreaming of deaf children in public schools. Students become aware of the ethics, roles, and responsibilities of interpreting as a team member in the classroom.

EDI 121: Languages and Signed Systems (1 credit)
This course explores and reviews the communication modes and languages used in public school settings, with a focus on those used by deaf children. Students will become familiar with the languages and systems in the mainstream educational process, including the structures of American Sign Language, spoken English, and English-influenced sign systems.

EDI 122: Discourse Analysis: Language Use in Education (1 credit)
This course introduces the educational interpreter to an understanding of language, especially as it is used in the mainstreamed classroom with deaf students. Focus is on concepts of discourse analysis in general, and specifically in different types of classrooms. Students analyze and compare classroom discourse as it occurs in classrooms with hearing children and classrooms with deaf children.

EDI 124: Discourse Analysis: Interpreting Discourse (1 credit)
This course focuses on the analysis of discourse structures as a process for successful growth as an interpreter. Foundational skills essential to effective interpreting are the basis of this course, and include text analysis, abstracting, paraphrasing, linguistic and meaning analysis, glossing and transcription, feedback and self-assessment skills.

EDI 131: Skills Development Lab I: Foundational Skills (4 credits)
This course focuses on skill development for educational interpreters, including both language (signed and spoken) and interpreting/transliterating skills. Students develop self-assessment skills and practice professional feedback strategies while focusing on their skill development.

EDI 132: Skills Development Lab II: Translation-Sign to Spoken (1 credit)
This course focuses on translation skills. Students work from signed source texts to spoken texts, focusing on the skills in their Skill Development Plan. They continue to develop their self-assessment and feedback skills, working with mentors assigned through the program.

EDI 133: Skills Development Lab III: Translation-English to Sign (1 credit)
This course focuses on translation skills. Students work from spoken source texts to signed target texts, focusing on the skills identified in the Skill Development Plan. They continue to develop their self-assessment and feedback skills, working with mentors assigned through the program.

EDI 231: Educational Interpreting: Content Areas K-12 (2 credits)
In this course, participants will practice interpreting the subjects taught in public school classes. Included with practice interpreting and transliterating in ASL and various other systems, will be discussion of the class goals, instructional style, interpreter roles and ethics, language or mode choice, and analysis of the classroom for accessibility and appropriateness for interpreting. This course is primarily a skills development course.

EDI 232: Skills Development: Non-Content Areas K-12 (2 credits)
This course provides students the opportunity to practice analyzing a variety of non-content area settings for interpretability, to identify factors that are unique to any given setting, and to practice interpreting and feedback techniques for these settings. Skills development begins with prepared consecutive exercises and progresses to prepared simultaneous materials.

EDI 233: Skills Development Lab IV: Interpreting (3 credits)
This course gives students the opportunity to assess their skills as educational interpreters and discuss ways to more effectively interpret/transliterate in targeted school classes and activities. This course is designed to center upon individual needs of students. Interpreted selections will be assessed by the student and the instructor, followed by discussion of individualized professional development activities.

EDI 280: Internship: Educational Interpreting (2 credits)
This course provides an internship experience within the various duties and responsibilities, which the educational interpreter encounters on the job. The Internship provides maximum opportunities for practical experience in educational interpreting settings. Mentors from both within the setting and from EICP will provide necessary supervision.

EDI 211: Curriculum Methods and Materials: K-12 (1 credit)
This course develops an awareness of the teaching styles and learning styles that the educational interpreter may encounter. An understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of these factors provides the interpreter with a foundation for improving the delivery of interpreting services.

EDI 212: Tutoring Techniques (1 credit)
The purpose of this course is to address the challenges faced by educational interpreters in providing effective tutoring for students who are deaf and hard of hearing. Issues addressed include: the role of the interpreter as tutor; academic challenges; experiences by students who are deaf and hard of hearing; effective strategies for daily tutoring; and building collaborative relationships.

EDI 223: Communication Assessment (1 credit)
This course acquaints the student with the techniques used to informally assess the communication used by deaf students, hearing students, and teachers, and the communication events that occur in educational settings. Also included will be techniques for using information gathered in formal and informal assessments to interpret in the most effective manner for all participants.

EDI 234 Professional Educational Interpreter (1 credit)
This course provides students the opportunity to assimilate and discuss the principles, practices, and knowledge they have been exposed to in the program. Topics include professionalism in the work place, professional development activities, ways to effectively integrate the role of the interpreter into the educational system, and current issues in the field of educational interpreting.

EDI 238: Portfolio (2 credits)
This course introduces the notion of a professional portfolio and provides students with the opportunity to collect artifacts and attestations that effectively demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have developed. Students will discuss the purposes and goals of a portfolio, and will decide which materials will be added to their portfolio.

Contact: DO IT Center
Last Updated: August 2008