Teacher's DEN - Professional Development and Educational Interpreters

 

Educational interpreters often struggle to find applications in interpreter trainings that are designed for a broader educational audience. At times you may wish to engage these professionals in a more enriching professional development experience, but where can you look for resources? Fortunately, today’s profession offers a range of topics and delivery methods to meet your team’s needs. Here are a few organizations that provide quality training opportunities for educational interpreters:

The National Association of Interpreters In Education, NAIE, empowers educational interpreters to promote best practices and to enhance the education of deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind students.

Membership is $60 per year or $30 per year for student membership. Benefits include networking opportunities, newsletters, resources, and a library of educational training programs that could be viewed during professional development time.  For more information, visit naiedu.org.

Indiana State University offers the PASS Project, Promoting Achievement for     Students with Sensory Loss. This project provides statewide support, technical assistance and professional development opportunities to educational interpreters. Some of the resources are live, in-person trainings while others are recorded webinars as well as EIPA-prep cohorts. You can find more information on the PASS Project at indstate.edu/education/Blumberg/PASS.

 

Additionally you can consult the Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education for professional 

development opportunities and activities. The Center’s accommodation specialist, Laura Leffler, is an RID certified interpreter with an educational interpreter permit. She hosts 10 free training opportunities per year. Leffler is also active on the board of the Indiana Chapter of RID and can connect interpreters looking for information to a variety of resources and    professional organizations. Reach out at LLeffler@isdh.in.gov/317-232-0896 and check out our Spring 2019 Newsletter for her original Staff Spotlight article to learn more about Laura Leffler.

 

Center documents related to educational interpreting:

Continuous learning educational interpreter considerations

Tips for virtual meetings with interpreters

Virtual meeting tips for interpreters

 

TACKLIN' Assessment - ASL Skills Checklist

 

You may be familiar with the Visual Communication and Sign Language Checklist - a standardized,     comprehensive checklist used to assist in tracking young children’s sign language development from birth to age 5. Did you know that staff from the Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education developed an alternate checklist to assist in tracking children’s sign language development? This new measure is the ASL Skills Checklist. It is based on Gallaudet’s standardized visual communication and sign language curriculum, Indiana curriculum, Indiana Deaf Education and Assessments of Language (IDEAL) milestones, and BEYOND IDEAL ASL Language milestones. You’re probably very curious about what the difference is between VCSL and our beta ASL skills checklist. The ASL Skills Checklist included all ages from birth to high school! (Deaf applause)

This ASL skills checklist is intended for use in the state of Indiana. It can be administered by fluent users of American Sign Language. Hearing staff are encouraged to partner with deaf adults who are fluent in ASL. Let’s keep our Indiana deaf children’s language development on track.

Who can administer this ASL skills checklist?   

· Deaf mentors/school age mentors

· Early interventionists who are fluent in ASL 

· Professionals on an evaluation team who are  fluent ASL users

· Teachers of the deaf who are fluent in ASL 

· Visual language specialists/ASL specialists