About Us - Purpose
TASK12 Vision
The Training and Assessment Systems for K-12 Educational Interpreters (TASK12) views skill standards for K-12 educational interpreters as it primary purpose. These standards are designed to better provide access to education for deaf and hard of hearing students who use interpreters in school. With these diagnostic results from evaluation of skills TASK12 develops the tools to provide research-based skill training/education for improvement.
TASK12 Mission
The Training and Assessment Systems for K-12 Educational Interpreters is a multi-state community of practice whose mission is to provide valid and reliable evaluation of K-12 educational interpreters who serve deaf and hard of hearing students in educational environments throughout the member states and to design from interpreter evaluation results appropriate training to improve qualifications of K-12 interpreters throughout TASK12 states.
HISTORY OF THE TASK12 PROGRAM 2001-2020
The purpose of this document is to provide a short history and overview of the TASK12 program. This overview is intended to provide new State members and/or new TASK12 Advisory Board members to better understand how the program began and how it has evolved over the years.
Prior to 2001, each State handled their own assessments and training for educational sign language interpreters. Each State assumed their educational interpreters were competent and had adequate signing skills to interpret proficiently. In 2000, John Copenhaver, the Director of the Center for Technical Assistance for Excellence in Special Education at Utah State University was approached by three State Education Agency staff members; Cheryl Johnson from Colorado, Miriam Podrazik from Arizona and Marilyn Pearson from Montana to request that TAESE develop a multi-state program that could provide assessments for educational interpreters. John consulted with State Special Education Directors in eleven States and they all agreed this was a good idea. In the beginning, there were nine States who agreed to be part of the program.
A Response for Proposal (RFP) was developed and advertised. Two proposals were received, one from Colorado and one from Kansas. A proposal review committee was formed and held a review of the proposal in Colorado. The following participated:
- Cheryl Johnson-Colorado SEA
- Mariam Podrazik-Arizona SEA
- Marilyn Pearson-Montana SEA
- John Copenhaver-TAESE
After careful review and consideration, the award was made to Dr. Bern Jones from Johnson County Community College in Kansas. Several organizational meetings took place and in the Summer of 2001. The Regional Assessment System (RAS) was created. The following nine States became the original members: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
John Copenhaver and Bern Jones met with individuals from the Boys Town National Research Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska to develop a partnership and agreement to be able to administer the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA) throughout the nine State area. Ensuring that educational interpreters in member States have the opportunity to take the EIPA continues to be a primary mission of TASK12. In addition to proctoring the exams, the TASK12 team collects valuable data to develop a comprehensive State report as well as target training and support for educational interpreters.
One of the first jobs of RAS was to develop an Advisory Board with a representative from each of the nine State Education Agency’s. There is one State Special Education Director on the Advisory Board to represent other State Directors. The Board has met every year since 2003 to provide advice and guidance to the Director. Most Board meetings were held in Phoenix, Arizona in November or December. Within a few years, Board by-laws and operating procedures were developed and approved. At each Board meeting, the by-laws are reviewed and revised if necessary. The Board also suggested an equitable funding formula based on general education student count. The formula is used to determine TASK12 costs for each member State.
In 2004, the name of the program was changed to ASK-12 (Assessment for Kindergarten through Grade 12) to better reflect the mission of the program and reflect that the program had grown to 12 States and went from a regional to national program.
In 2007, the Advisory Board agreed to a recommendation to add training of interpreters to the program. There were very few training programs at the time. ASK-12 was then changed to TASK12, the “T” stood for training. With the financial support from Arizona, Training for Interpreters in Public Schools (TIPS) was developed that included on-line modules so interpreters who scored low on the EIPA could improve their interpreting skills. The process involves a weekend face to face with two expert trainers and five months of on-line modules, with coaching from the trainers. At the conclusion of the training, each interpreter is administered the EIPA again to determine if they have improved. In addition, TASK12 has develop several weekend training options for States who are interested.
In 2019, Dr. Bern Jones retired after 18 years serving as the TASK12 Director. Jennifer Harvey was hired in 2019 to replace Dr. Jones. Since that time Ms. Harvey established the IMET (Interpreter Mentorship, Education and Training) program and was successful in securing a grant proposal in Utah, named NorthStar. She has also been instrumental in beginning interpreter mentoring services for TASK12.
In 2019, interpreter mentoring was introduced to the Advisory Board. Nebraska became the pilot State for the first mentoring cohort. Since then, several other States have added mentoring as a TASK12 service. The IMET program continues to develop various skill and knowledge development opportunities for educational interpreters.
TASK12 is one of the longest standing multi-state projects in the country. It has weathered numerous leadership turnovers in every member State, retirements of the three founding members, the 9-11 event of 2001, recession of 2008-2012, and most recently, the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Currently TASK12 has the following 14 States involved with the TASK12 Program: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming
The State Special Education Directors have been instrumental in their support of the program as they recognize the critical importance of expert interpreters. Over these many years the Directors and Advisory Board members have kept “the main thing the main thing”- children and youth who are deaf and hard of hearing.