Language Resources Program

Providing Support for Sign Language Interpreters

Through our outreach services, we provide professional development for sign language interpreters who work in PreK-12th grade through workshops, conferences and evaluations. Contact Dr. Deb Cates for more information: deb.cates@iaedb.org

Interpreter Professional Development

Interpreting Intensive Study Program

The Interpreting Intensive Study Program (IS) is a free two-year program designed for educational interpreters working in Iowa who hold a temporary license. One goal of this program is to assist these interpreters in bridging the gap to license by examination. The components of the program are classes for one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half hours every Tuesday evening online, meetings with language mentors once per month for an hour online, and meeting with Dr. Cates for individualized mentoring. There will also be independent work on skill-building exercises designed to be done around the interpreter’s daily work schedule. The expected time commitment for this program is a minimum of four hours per week. Each year, a new cohort begins with an in-person meeting on ISD’s campus in October. This course is available for up to five graduate credits through the Area Education Agency system (with a fee). Participants will need an EIPA score between 2.9 and 3.4 to enter the program, or will need to provide an interpreting sample to Dr. Cates prior to admission into the program. To remain in the program, participants will need to achieve a minimum of a Survival Plus on the Sign Language Proficiency Interview (will be conducted by ISD at no cost to participants). Participation in this program will fulfill the mentoring requirement per Iowa law for temporarily licensed interpreters. If you are interested in this program, fill out the form here.

Coaching supporting language, cognition, social, emotional and academic needs (C5)

Deaf Language Coaches for Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing Students

What the program does: Deaf language coaches support learners in filling gaps in their language. This looks different for each deaf learner based on gaps they have. Deaf language coaches provide focused language modeling that mimics natural language exposure that most children have from birth to age 3-5 when they enter school and, depending on the needs of the child, they can explain academic concepts in ASL as well. This supplements what the other signing adults in the school provide. The Deaf coach can also provide videos and other resources for the education team to learn ASL to better support the learner. This program is designed for children up to age 14 and up to grade 8.

Who the coaches are: Iowa School for the Deaf (ISD) Deaf language coaches are native or native-like ASL signers. ISD requires coaches to have an Advanced or higher on the Sign Language Proficiency Interview (SLPI), experience working with DHH children, completed language coach training, and passed background checks.

How the program works: The IEP team is critical for identifying the need for a deaf language coach based on the learner’s assessment data. An ASL language assessment can provide some information regarding the learner’s needs. Deaf coaching activities may be beneficial if the student has a significant language delay (two or more years behind their chronological age). ISD is available to support the process in determining a need, through the RIOT process, for a Deaf Language Coach. Once the IEP team determines a need for a Deaf Language Coach, the IEP team can work with ISD on documentation and scheduling of the activities.

When language coaching meetings occur: Language coaching sessions occur during the school day at the child’s school. The initial meeting between the language coach and the child is usually arranged to be in-person, and then meetings going forward are either face-to-face or via Zoom. ISD will work with the IEP team to determine the frequency of sessions.

Deaf Language Coaches for Temporarily Licensed Sign Language Interpreters

Through C5, Deaf language coaches are provided to students enrolled in the Interpreting Intensive Study program. Language coaches meet individually with IS students on a monthly basis to work on ASL skills and to provide feedback on interpreting work.

Interpreter Mentoring

Sign language interpreters can receive individualized mentoring from Dr. Cates. Temporarily licensed interpreters should be enrolled in the IS program to receive these services. Interpreters with a permanent license can receive mentoring through online meetings and practice assignments or through in-person visits for advice tailored to their specific working situation.

Immersion Conference

ISD Outreach hosts an annual educational interpreter immersion conference at Iowa State University in Ames in June. This conference is open to all Iowa educational interpreters, teachers of the deaf, speech language pathologists, and audiologists. This conference offers between 18 and 24 contact hours per year that satisfy Iowa interpreter, audiologist and speech language pathologist continuing education requirements. Through the AEA professional learning system, teachers can earn one license renewal credit. All conference workshops are also approved for Registry of Interpreter for the Deaf CEUs. Registration fee required.

Bring Professional Development to Your District

School districts and AEAs can take advantage of free professional development for their sign language interpreters through ISD Outreach! Dr. Cates provides workshops on a wide range of topics relevant to educational interpreting, and will develop new workshops upon request. These workshops include topics such as interpreting during language arts time, language deprivation syndrome, ethical decision making, fundamentals of discourse analysis, discourse features of ASL, and FAQs on educational interpreting.

Interested districts or AEAs can email Dr. Cates with the dates and times their staff has professional development, and she will tailor a workshop to fit their needs. Workshops may be done on Zoom or in person. All workshop participants will receive certificates of completion that satisfy the Iowa Board of Sign Language Interpreters and Transliterators requirements for continuing education. Participants seeking CEUs from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf should contact Iowa State Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (ISIRD) for a PINRA form prior to the workshop.

Statewide Resources Library

If you’re looking for materials to enhance interaction with students who are deaf or hard of hearing, check out our library. You can find more information about requesting materials on our Literacy Resources page.

Learn About the Resource Library

Interpreter Evaluations

Interpreter Skills Assessment

ISD Outreach offers two types of educational interpreter skill assessment: a skills screening and student-specific screenings.

Interpreter Skills Screening

Educational interpreters, their supervisors, or school districts or AEAs seeking to hire sign language interpreters can request an interpreter skills screening free of charge. This screening provides an assessment of sign language interpreter skill at a specific educational level (elementary or secondary) and with specific target languages (ASL-to-English and English-to ASL or Pidgin Signed English (PSE)-to-English and English-to-PSE). The report from this screening details the interpreter’s estimated EIPA score range, strengths and weaknesses in interpreting skills, and recommendations for hiring, professional development, mentoring, and placement. This screening takes place via Zoom and requires one hour. Report turnaround time is 10 business days. Interpreters will need access to a high speed internet connection, a laptop or desktop computer, and a high quality web camera.

Student-Specific Screenings

Educational interpreters or their supervisors may request a screening to assess:

the fit of a particular interpreter with a particular student
a student’s need for an educational interpreter.

Both of these screenings are conducted in-person by observation of the student and their interpreter, if they have one, in the student’s regular classes. The screening requires one school day and, based on the results of the screening, additional assessments may be recommended for the interpreter’s language or skill levels or the student’s language level. This screening provides the following information as appropriate to the type of screening: the student’s needs for classroom access, the interpreter’s skill in interpreting, the student’s interactions with an interpreter, recommendations for the interpreter working with the student, and recommendations for the student’s educational team. Report turnaround time is 15 business days.

SLPI for Deaf Ed Professionals in Iowa

ISD currently uses the Sign Language Proficiency Interview (SLPI) to evaluate staff. We are able to offer SLPI screenings to any professional working in deaf education in Iowa. The interview takes place via Zoom and requires 30 minutes. Turnaround time for SLPI reports is 60 business days. See more information about the SLPI here.

The requirements for this program are:

-a computer running the most current version of its OS (Mac or Windows)

-a high-resolution camera either built in or attached to the computer

-a distraction-free background

-a quiet room where the interview can take place uninterrupted

-a “room monitor” who is fluent in ASL and can communicate with the interviewer if needed

EIPA Testing

TASK12 — http://www.Task12.org

Iowa residents or those working as interpreters in Iowa may register here for the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment. Iowa interpreters may test in any state that is part of TASK12. The complete testing schedule for all TASK12 states is available here. More information about the EIPA is available here, but please note that Iowa interpreters should register through TASK-12, not through Boy’s Town.

Iowa and nearby state EIPA Testing Dates can be found here.

Educational Interpreter Professional Development contact:
Deb Cates, Ph.D., Language Resources Coordinator

SLPI

About the SLPI

The Sign Language Proficiency Interview (SLPI) is a direct test of sign language communication competency. Candidates are interviewed in a conversational format for 15 – 20 minutes by a trained proficient signer who might be either deaf or hearing. Interviews can include conversation about both social and work-related topics. Following the interview, each candidate’s signing skills are rated using a standard scale based on an “ideal” or knowledgeable native or native-like signer. The SLPI is based on a standard language evaluation methodology, the Language Proficiency Interview (LPI). The LPI has widespread acceptance as a valid tool for assessing communication competence. Like the LPI, the SLPI is a conversational procedure that allows candidates to discuss topics important for their communication needs, thus reducing the anxiety produced by less flexible assessment procedures.

The ratings assigned by ISD are as follows:

Advanced Plus-Superior: Able to have a fully shared and natural conversation, with in-depth elaboration for both social and work topics. Very broad sign vocabulary, near native-like production and fluency, excellent use of sign language grammatical features, and excellent comprehension for normal signing rate.

Advanced: Able to have a shared conversation with good, spontaneous elaboration for both social and work topics. Broad sign language vocabulary with clear and accurate production of signs and fingerspelling at a normal/near normal rate; occasional misproductions do not detract from conversational flow. Good use of many sign language grammatical features and comprehension good for normal signing rate.

Intermediate Plus: Exhibits some advanced skills, but not all and not consistently.

Intermediate: Able to discuss with some confidence, routine social and work topics within a conversation format with some elaboration; generally 3 to 5 sentences. Good knowledge and control of everyday/basic sign language vocabulary (may have several sign misproductions), with fluency generally characterized by moderate signing pace and some inappropriate pauses/ hesitations. Demonstrates use of some sign language grammatical features in connected discourse, but not controlled. Fairly good comprehension for a moderate to normal signing rate; a few repetitions and rephrasing of questions may be needed.

Survival Plus: Exhibits some intermediate skills, but not all and not consistently.

Survival: Able to discuss social and work topics with responses generally 1 to 3 sentences in length. Some knowledge of basic sign language vocabulary with many sign vocabulary errors. Slow to moderate signing rate with some inappropriate pausing. Basic use of a few sign language grammatical features. Fair comprehension for signing produced at a slow to moderate rate with some repetition and rephrasing.

Novice Plus: Exhibits some survival skills, but not all and not consistently.

Novice: Able to provide single sign and some short phrase/sentence responses to basic questions signed at a slow to moderate rate with frequent repetition and rephrasing. Vocabulary primarily related to everyday work and/or social topics such as basic work related signs, family members, basic objects, colors, numbers, names of the week, and time. Production and fluency characterized by many sign production errors and by a slow rate with frequent inappropriate pauses/hesitations.

No Functional Skills: Able to provide a few basic signs, primarily fingerspelling responses to some basic questions either fingerspelled slowly or using a few signs.

Ratings are Adapted from US Foreign Service Institute & ACTFL LPI Rating Scales by William Newell & Frank Caccamise. The SLPI as developed separates upper fluency ranges as Advanced Plus, Superior, and Superior Plus. Iowa School for the Deaf places these individuals in a single range of Advanced Plus-Superior.

SLPI for Deaf Ed Professionals in Iowa

ISD currently uses the Sign Language Proficiency Interview (SLPI) to evaluate staff. We have a trained team of interviewers and raters in Council Bluffs (Iowa School for the Deaf campus). We are able to offer SLPI screenings to any professional working in deaf education in Iowa. The interview takes place via Zoom and requires 30 minutes. Turnaround time for SLPI reports is 30 business days. See more information about the SLPI here.

The requirements for this program are:

a computer running the most current version of its OS (Mac or Windows)
a high-resolution camera either built in or attached to the computer
a distraction-free background
a quiet room where the interview can take place uninterrupted
a “room monitor” who is fluent in ASL and can communicate with the interviewer if needed

SLPI for High School Students Seal of Biliteracy

The State of Iowa allows students to receive a seal of biliteracy on their high school diploma for American Sign Language if they have a score of Intermediate or higher on the SLPI. ISD Outreach offers the SLPI to Iowa high school students free of charge, regardless of hearing status, if they use ASL for daily communication, if they have taken ASL classes, or are heritage language users of ASL. School districts are responsible for all paperwork for the seal of biliteracy.

The interview takes place via Zoom and requires 30 minutes. Turnaround time for SLPI reports is 30 business days. See more information about the SLPI here.

The requirements for this program for high school students are:

a computer running the most current version of its OS (Mac or Windows)
a high-resolution camera either built in or attached to the computer
a distraction-free background
a quiet room where the interview can take place uninterrupted
a “room monitor” who is fluent in ASL and can communicate with the interviewer

SLPI for the General Public

ISD currently uses the Sign Language Proficiency Interview (SLPI) to evaluate staff. We have a trained team of interviewers and raters in Council Bluffs (campus of Iowa School for the Deaf). We would be able to conduct a SLPI interview for a member of the general public at a cost of $220 (this fee is per person). The interview would take place via Zoom.

The requirements for this program are:

a computer running the most current version of its OS (Mac or Windows)
a high-resolution camera either built in or attached to the computer
a distraction-free background
a quiet room where the interview can take place uninterrupted
a “room monitor” who is fluent in ASL and can communicate with the interviewer

It would be the individual’s responsibility to reserve the space, set up the technology, and schedule interviews based on the availability of interviewers at ISD. Payment for the SLPI interview must be received by ISD by one week prior to the scheduled test.

Statewide Resources

Statewide Resources Library

Electronic and hard copy materials on a host of sign language and related topics are available through the library.

Learn About the Resource Library

Find an Interpreter

Contact Information for Iowa-Based Interpreters

Public list of Sign Language Interpreters working in Iowa.

Iowa Board of Sign Language Interpreters and Transliterators

The Iowa Department of Public Health, Bureau of Professional Licensure has licensing authority for all sign language interpreters and transliterators. Visit their site to apply or renew.