Interpreter Coaching Project: 

All educational interpreters currently working in public school units who fall below the new standards, EIPA score 3.5, set by the State Board of Education, can apply for NC DPI's Interpreter Coaching Project. Interpreters will be paired with a coach to work with throughout the year to improve their skills. All coaches have at least an EIPA score of 4.0 or national certification and have completed mentoring training. All educational interpreters who would like to apply for the coaching project and who have not already registered to receive a mentor need to email NC DPI's statewide Consultant for Deaf and Hard of Hearing and Interpreter Support, Antwan Campbell, at antwan.campbell@dpi.nc.gov.

If you are working in a public school unit, have an EIPA score of 4.0 or national certification, and would like to apply to be a coach, please email antwan.campbell@dpi.nc.gov for more information.

For Provisional Licensees: 

DSDHH provides mentors for provisionally licensed interpreters. In addition, if an educational interpreter has a provisional license, we can provide them with a mentor. If interested, please email Pam King, NC DSDHH Central Office Staff Interpreter, at: Pam.King@dhhs.nc.gov. 

Note: Educational Interpreters are not required to obtain a NC License (provisional or full), whereas staff interpreters at NC School for the Deaf in Morganton and Eastern NC School for the Deaf in Wilson are licensed and must adhere to the Code of Professional Conduct (CPC) that has been set forth by the National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID). 

NC Interpreter and Transliterator Licensing Board's statute explains that education is an exempt setting. For example: if an interpreter is interpreting for a school-sanctioned event, then that person does not need to hold a license, and the Board would have no authority over that interpreter while they are interpreting in a school-sanctioned setting. However, if that interpreter goes out into the community and provides interpreting services for a fee, then the Board could have authority over the situation. Please note that school-sanctioned events such as plays, parent-teacher meetings, and graduation all fall under the education setting.

NC Association of the Deaf advises that Deaf/HoH parents request a RID-Certified interpreter for all school-sanctioned events especially IEP meetings. 

For all parents and educators, please understand that "interpreted interactions cannot substitute for direct communication with peers” and that “...interpreters should not replace intervention for language deprivation” (Caselli, et al., 2020).

Reference:

Caselli, N. K., Hall, W. C., & Henner, J. (2020). American sign language interpreters in public schools: An illusion of inclusion that perpetuates language deprivation. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 24 (11), 1323–1329. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-020-02975-7

For further reading:

De Meulder, M., & Haualand, H. (2021). Sign language interpreting services: A quick fix for inclusion? Translation and Interpreting Studies, 16 (1), 19–40. https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.18008.dem

Russell, D. (2021). 10 critical perspectives on education mediated by sign language interpreters: Inclusion or the illusion of inclusion?  Critical Perspectives on Plurilingualism in Deaf Education, 217–239. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781800410756-013