Skill levels of educational interpreters working in public schools

J. Deaf Stud. Deaf Educ., Summer 1999; 4: 144 - 155

B Schick, K Williams and L Bolster
Boys Town National Research Hospital, USA; Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind, USA; Corresponding author at: Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, CB 409, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0409, USA. E-mail: Brenda.Schick@colorado.edu

The Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment, or EIPA, is an evaluation tool designed specifically for educational interpreters. An evaluation using the EIPA considers the child's grade level, the sign language or sign system that the interpreter is using as well as any other child-specific factors. Fifty-nine educational interpreters were evaluated using the EIPA. They had different backgrounds and training, and used different types of sign language or sign language or sign systems. The results show that not all of the educational interpreters were qualified to provide a child with an adequate interpretation of classroom discourse. Less than half of the educational interpreters assessed in this study performed at a level considered minimally acceptable. These data also show that sign vocabulary skills were significantly better than grammatical skills. Eighteen interpreters were evaluated twice in order to test-retest reliability, which showed that scores were not significantly different between the two evaluations. The picture that emerges from these data is that many deaf children receive an interpretation of classroom discourse that may distort and inadequately represent the information being communicated.