Educational Interpreters

An educational interpreter is defined as an individual who transliterates and/or interprets educational content, and facilitates communication between students who are identified as deaf or hard of hearing (on their IEP) and others in order to access the general education curriculum, including all aspects of the students' educational program.  Effective July 1, 2008, Chapter 14 mandates:

o   Educational Interpreters must meet the qualifications (below) in paragraphs (1) or (2) and (3)

1)  Achieve and provide evidence of a score of 3.5 on the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA) for the appropriate grade level to which the person has been assigned; or

(2) Be a  qualified educational interpreter or qualified transliterator pursuant to the Sign Language Interpreter or Transliterator Act, Act 57 of 2004 and its implementing regulations; and

(3) Provide evidence of a minimum of twenty hours of staff development activities relating to interpreting or transliterating services annually.

o   The Board will review the EIPA score requirement every 2 years

Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network ( PaTTAN) provides training opportunities for educational interpreters who are employed in school districts, intermediate units, and approved private schools. It is critical that educational interpreters receive effective appropriate professional development to ensure that they are qualified to perform their duties. The Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PATTAN) offers staff development training at convenient times so that the pool of educational intepreters are prepared to work with students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

PaTTAN has designed training for afterschool and weekend sessions.  Check the PaTTAN website for upcoming trainings.  Materials and streaming video from past training sessions can be found on the PaTTAN website.  Click on "Supporting Students, then "Educational Interpreters," and finally "Training Materials."