Performance Assessment for Career Enhancement A tool for interpreters and administration November 1, 1999 Signs has been developed to meet the ever-increasing need for in-service training for interpreters in education. I appreciate the opportunity to bring an exciting new program to you, as an educational administrator. Businesses, government and educational institutions are realizing the tremendous worth and potential of their human resources. The business community is revisiting the ideas of downsizing and rightsizing and strategically planning and implementing methods to avoid reducing their most valuable resource. The cost to rehire later or to the existing pool assuming additional responsibilities in the void are impacting their bottom line in the long term. These costs are far greater the benefits and relatively smaller investments of developing ways to retain and retrain these employees. As the Founder and President of this unique company and program, I bring 20 years of experience in the interpreting profession. In my tenure with the State of N.C., I was responsible for developing, implementing and administering two state interpreter assessment processes (educational and community). Signs has provided consultation , technical assistance and professional development on a nationwide basis for 12 years. For educational entities employing Sign Language interpreters, the ability to recruit and retain qualified interpreters is at crisis proportion. As states seek to address these issues and with the ever-increasing focus on implementing certification and licensing standards, it is incumbent upon educational administrators to develop programs to upgrade the skill set of existing and potential employees to meet the legislative mandates. Certification and licensing requirements as well as requirements for qualified communication facilitation required by both the IDEA and ADA for students to have communication accessibility are making it critical for administrators to seek new ways to ensure compliance and avoid due process. Signs has developed a program to assist educational entities to meet their legislative mandates and assist interpreters in upgrading their skills as well as prepare for certification. This comprehensive program, PACE© - Performance Assessment for Career Enhancement, addresses the total needs of the school and seeks to motivate and prepare interpreters for certification by providing support and professional development. This process is four-fold:

Core competencies and requisite skills as well as their corresponding weights (in accordance with their importance to the position) are identified by a dialogue between the supervisor and the employee and driven by the IEP. Those skills more important to the current position carry more importance in determining needed skill development. From this list of essential skills needed to be successful in the interpreting position, skill gaps are determined for technical skills by the provision of a diagnostic assessment. This process is developed to be flexible and tailored to the needs of the educational entity and the interpreters. Diagnostic assessments are generated from a videotaped sample of the interpreter's work in the classroom. This is not an artificially fabricated testing situation but gives the interpreter feedback in the situation in which he/she actually works daily. The diagnostic assessment results and a summary of skill gaps and their corresponding prioritization of training recommendations are sent to the interpreter with a summary report to the educational entity (supervisor). The feedback to the interpreter is specific and includes suggestions for skill development. The report to the supervisor will include training priorities recommended calculated in relation to their importance to the position(s) or to their degree of difficulty. For multiple interpreters, this summary shall include a compilation of all training recommended and prioritization for the school(s) and/or district(s). The assessment process is most successful when followed by subsequent assessments to determine success and identify new goals for the interpreter to focus skill development activities. Below is a sample list of some suggested technical skills/tasks needed by interpreters in education: Childhood Development Knowledge of Interpreter Process Models IEP Goals related to communication Educational Policy and Procedures (site-specific) Cultural knowledge Basic knowledge of linguistics Ethical guidelines in the context of the educational setting Sign-to-voice and Voice-to-Sign Professional Protocol Message Comprehension Liberal Arts Message Production Content-specific knowledge Message Equivalency Knowledge of various manual systems Message Repair Process Time Affect Transition Feedback on miscues (problem patterns): Spatial organization and referencing Omissions Tense/time sequencing Additions Fingerspelling & Numbers Substitutions Implicit Information made Explicit Intrusions Lexical/Phrasal choices Anomalies   Professional development activities are also available to support the findings of the diagnostic assessment. This can be conducted in a number of formats. The interpreter can be directed to seek out independent study to work on the skill gaps identified. Direct mentorship can be provided by a veteran, certified interpreter with at least 5 years experience having received comprehensive mentorship training from Signs. Another option for professional development is to have Sign's staff provide in-service activities. This can be accomplished in a number of formats: one-on-one web-based training, one-day in-service training provided on-site, customized tutorials accessed via the WWW, cumulative on-going after school sessions or specially tailored activities to meet the individual interpreter's and school's need. At this time, the web-based training component is in the development phase and expected to be launched in a two-phase process: January 2000—capable to provide one-on-one online tutoring and mentoring Summer 2000—online professional development tutorials and modules with CEU credit September 2000—online customized tutorials to meet the unique and specific needs of the school district or interpreter This will be an exciting opportunity for interpreters in remote areas to access quality training available typically only to interpreters in metropolitan areas or as the result of driving great distances to attend a conference or workshop. In this way, Signs can tailor the needs for professional development to the unique and individual needs of each interpreter economically and in the comfort of the interpreter's school or home. As mentioned, Signs will also be positioned to offer CEU credit toward certification maintenance. This process will motivate the interpreter by providing support and professional development on par with those in Corporate America. As mentioned previously, PACE© is dynamic and an on-going process. Upon successful completion of narrowing the prioritized gaps, the process begins again. Research and experience has consistently shown this process to be successful. Typical assessment processes offer one-time assessment, limited feedback, and little opportunity for interaction and negotiation between supervisors and interpreters. Additionally, it has been my experience that interpreters in education are much more anxious about a “certification” process in which their positions depend. Consequently, a process by which they can receive valuable feedback and work toward certification goals can be far more productive followed by subsequent testing for certification and licensure. To address the critical shortage in the supply of interpreters, educational entities can benefit from this process by also utilizing it as a recruitment and retention tool (as a benefit to the potential and current employee). It is a powerful annual performance appraisal tool for supervisors and a standard for measurement for interpreters to upgrade current core competencies where standard appraisal systems fall short. This system has a number of advantages and is differentiated from standard assessment processes by: Providing career development to assist the employee/interpreter with long-range goals Provide position assessment to calculate requisite technical skill levels, current levels, gaps between the two and training needs Provides positive feedback on competencies in relation to the current position Provides a mechanism for measurement to be utilized by the interpreter and his/her supervisor In-depth feedback to assist interpreters in identifying emerging patterns and to prepare for certification Provides a comprehensive report on skill gaps for interpreter's personnel file Provides summary reports to educational entities needing assistance in identifying professional development activities Providing direct one-on-one mentorship in the classroom assisting interpreters to transfer and apply new skills Providing one-on-one or group professional development activities via customized or pre-developed web-based training tutorials Provides follow-up diagnostic assessment to determine success in working toward narrowing skill gaps Motivates employees by showing support of professional and career development needs Provides a resource for rural educational entities to receive support and technical assistance In my experiences working in and with other states, implementation of certification requirements before or without necessary professional development for those affected creates overwhelming anxiety. Preparing interpreters in a proactive fashion for certification creates an atmosphere of support and diminishes the typical anxiety experienced from new position requirements. Signs excited to offer PACE© to you as a tool to assist you in your work to ensure your interpreters are offering services of the utmost quality. Signs look forward to discussing the potential for our trainers to work collaboratively with you toward these goals. Please contact us soon to discuss how we can develop a program to fit your unique and specific needs. If you would like more information on this program, please contact Signs of Development, LLC, at wwworkshops@signs-of-development.org.