Interpreter Setting Report

I would like to work in the educational setting when I become a

certified interpreter. What interests me about the educational setting is that I
would be helping deaf children learn their native language in a
mainstreamed school. Another reason that I want to work in this setting is
that most interpreters who graduate from a training program start out in an
educational setting.
The skill set that I could contribute to you include: I am an easy and
fast learner in elementary subjects, great communicator, have a passion for
teaching kids and I can understand all the subjects required, and I have a
knowledge and understanding of Deaf culture and heritage.
There is a major need for this setting because a lot of deaf children are
getting mainstreamed into the public school system. Also, due to the
legislation laws passed of requiring an interpreter for children who require
one and that its the departments job to find the interpreter and also the
shifting social attitudes, the increase for interpreters has jumped. Many
educational interpreters havent been certified in the past because it
wasnt a requirement and the school board would take anyone who knows
how to fingerspell and have a somewhat knowledge of American Sign
Language. This caused the communication between the interpreter and the
consumer to be lacking.

I could support my husband and me in the educational setting. Pay

varied from city to city and also depends on the certification you have and
how much experience you have obtained. I found in my research that in the
educational setting, interpreters would get paid around $13.00/hour or a
little more. Interpreters in the educational setting to get benefits and so that
lowers the pay slightly and you have job security there, so all this factors into
the pay. Interpreters would have school holidays off and would be like a
staff member at the school. I would hope that once Im there for a couple
years and when my knowledge and skill level increases that I would be able
to get a pay raise or move to a better paying interpreting job.
For an interpreter in the educational setting, one must obtain an EIPA
(Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment). Interpreters must pass
with a 3.5-3.9, which is equivalent to a Novice certification and you have 4
years to pass the EIPA with a 4.0 or better, which would be compared to a
professional certification. It should also be noted that interpreters in the
educational setting should hold a Bachelors degree. With holding this
degree, the employer would be insured that the interpreter could be able to
perform interpreting/transliterating skills that might be required.
Positives of this setting are that I could teach deaf children their native
language when they arent learning it at home, so the interpreter would be
the main source of the language, I would be learning along with the
consumer and gain knowledge with the prep time involved, I could work with
a team of interpreters and switch off every 30 or so minutes, depending on

the difficulty of the content, instructional strategies used, and classroom

environment, working in an educational setting would get me benefits and
insurance, which would be a big thing for my husband and me, and the
school department would/should pay for interpreters to gain skill with
workshops and conferences.
Negatives would include: some outside tutoring that would require
more prep time, being seen as a teachers aide and drawing the line to
where my job is an interpreter, low pay depending on the city and how many
deaf consumers there are, and the time it take to prep for the lessens.
Once I get certified and fulfill all the requirements to become an
educational interpreter, I look forward to building my skill set and learning
from the consumers. I believe the educational setting will be very beneficial
for my first couple years as an interpreter. I remember in class, we were
discussing different settings and what stood out to me was that, when you
first become a certified interpreter, you wont have your dream job and a fulltime job if that. You have to make your name known to the deaf community. I
think it is so beneficial to volunteer at the Deaf center in Taylorsville or going
to Deaf events all over the valley. The more you get involved with the Deaf
community, the more that the consumers will feel more comfortable around
you and trust you, so that way, they can vouch for you when the time is
right.
References:

"Street Leverage." Street Leverage. Street leverage, 1 Jan. 2014. Web.

1 May 2014. <http://www.streetleverage.com>.
An overview of k-12 Educational Interpreting: 3. RID: Registry of
Interpreters for the Deaf. Web. 1 Jan. 2014.
Humphrey, Janice H., and Bob J. Alcorn. "Where Interpreters Work." So
you want to be an interpreter?: an introduction to sign language interpreting.
2nd ed. Amarillo, TX: H & H Publishers;, 1994. . Print.