Educational Interpreter Assessment
Training and Assessment Systems for K-12 Education Interpeters (TASK12) is a project with the Center for Technical Assistance for Excellence in Special Education (TAESE) at Utah State University. TASK12 provides assessments for school-based sign language interpreters. The assessment tool, the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA), out of Boys Town Research Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, is researched based. The following States participate in the TASK12 program:
The current state members of TASK12 are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. As TASK12 grows to a national service, we welcome new states and K-12 interpreters. Information regarding membership is available on the TASK12 Membership page.
TASK12 Facts
- The TASK12 project has provided evaluation and diagnostic opportunities to more than 4,000 K–12 sign language interpreters within the member States since 2002.
- Registration for testing is done online at www.task12.org. K–12 interpreters who work in TASK12 member States may register and test at any of the sites.
- Testing, which is video recorded, is usually conducted on weekends, as K–12 interpreters are in the classroom during the week. Each videotape of interpreter work is sent to Boys Town National Research Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska and evaluated by teams of interpreting specialists. Results (with skill level scores and diagnostic feedback) are mailed directly to the candidate.
- Individual classroom interpreting performances are synthesized into a comprehensive written report for each State, with recommendations regarding appropriate intervention (skills training) needed.
- The cost of TASK12 is based on a simple formula: the total number of students in K–12 education in the state multiplied by $0.034 (3.4 cents) per child plus $75.00 per test slot.
Educational Interpreter Training Opportunity!
- The Training of Interpreters in Public Schools (TIPS) project is a comprehensive approach to training designed for K–12 school interpreters who have demonstrated skill levels from 3.0-3.9 on the research-based Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA) skill testing instrument. TIPS is also a project within TASK12 and under the Center for Technical Assistance for Excellence in Special Education (TAESE) at Utah State University.
- Training includes one weekend day face-to-face meeting and completion of three online training modules. The weekend meeting is an intensive skill training that concentrates on skills in interpreting and skill development using technology that participants will be using during the online portion (modules). The three online modules are Interpreting Educational Discourse, Fingerspelling in the Classroom, and Discourse Mapping in Education. The TIPS project requires between 60-70 independent hours of time over a five-month period. The EIPA is administered upon successful completion of all three modules in TIPS that measure the progress of the interpreter.
- High speed internet service and some type of digital/video recording equipment are required for participation in the training. CD, DVD/VHS, and Videophone are also helpful pieces of equipment, but not required.
- National sign language interpreter experts, Doug Bowen-Bailey and Patty Gordon, developed these modules with guidance and assistance from Kevin Williams (coauthor of the EIPA instrument). Trainers (Doug Bowen-Bailey, Patty Gordon, Amy Williamson and Bridget Sabatke) guide participants through TIPS.
- The cost for the training varies in each State. In many cases there is financial support from the State Educational Department and/or local school districts.
- The SEA receives a comprehensive report regarding interpreter training results.
Visit the TASK12 website
