DEC - Sign Language Interpreter

Definition

The employee must be proficient and certified in sign language and have passed the EIPA.  The employee independently or with minimal supervision controls and operates his or her assigned functions.  Work requires planning and organizing daily work assignments and maintaining contact with regular education and special education teachers.  The employee must demonstrate the ability to work with children who are deaf or hard of hearing in completing school assignments and understanding difficult concepts as well as functioning as an interpreter.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Maintains flexible work hours in order to provide access to communication for school-sponsored extracurricular activities when needed by the students who are deaf/hard of hearing.

• Ability to prepare in advance lesson vocabulary and activities.

• Possesses technical skills or utilizes resources to maintain hearing aids, auditory trainers, and FM systems.

• Maintains an awareness of the instructor’s daily lesson plans.

• Monitors the student’s comprehension of signed information.

• Works to foster independence in deaf students.

• Provides information to the supervisor and/or appropriate school personnel concerning the student’s current educational progress.

• Report absences as they occur to DEC to secure a replacement interpreter.

• Demonstrates flexibility to work with EC teachers as directed when their assigned student is absent.  

• Reports collected data to appropriate individuals, including administrators, teachers, parents, and other related service providers.

• Maintains classroom records and files as directed by the supervising teacher. 

• Accompanies assigned students on all field trips. 

• Monitors assigned students during extracurricular events as assigned.

• Participates in school functions and other duties as assigned.

• Performs other related work as required.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Ability to use sign language at a level to interpret the spoken language using the appropriate production of signs (hand shape, movement, location, and directionality) as assessed by the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA) achieving Level 3 or above. (Interpreters currently employed in NC with an EIPA score of 3.0-3.29 may be eligible for employment but would be required to reach a 3.3 in three years.)

• Understands the developmental stages of children and a special understanding of the needs of children with a hearing impairment.

• Ability to communicate and work with a variety of age groups.

• Ability to use appropriate sign substitutions and communicate in a clear and accurate manner when using fingerspelling.

• Ability to organize classroom materials, records, and reports to meet program reports and deadlines.

• Ability to work independently with minimal direct supervision in the assigned duties and tasks.

• Ability to develop and maintain an effective working relationship with students, parents, teachers, and administrators.

• Ability to use appropriate inflection and tone in voicing from Sign Language to Spoken English.

• Ability to maintain a positive atmosphere in the classroom.

• Ability to be tactful, patient, and firm with students assigned.

• Ability to maintain flexible work hours to provide communication for school-sponsored extra-curricular activities when needed by students.

• Ability to manage an instructional management system.

Physical Requirements

• Physically performs the basic life operational functions of reaching, standing, walking, fingering, talking, hearing, and repetitive motions.

• Must be able to perform sedentary work exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally, and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects.

• Must possess the visual acuity to work with lesson plans, read students’ assignments, operate a computer terminal, prepare records and reports, and observe and monitor the behavior of students.

Minimum Education and Experience

• High School diploma required.

• Minimum score of 3.3 on the Educational Interpreter Proficiency Assessment for Sign Language. (Interpreters currently employed in NC with an EIPA score of 3.0-3.29 may be eligible for employment but would be required to reach a 3.3 in three years.) 

• Completes yearly renewal credit hours as mandated by the State of North Carolina.

This Position reports to:  Principal

Classification:   Non-Exempt

Salary:   Grade 64, 66, or 68 depending upon EIPA score

Disclaimer

The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees for this job.

If offered a position, the prospective employee must pass a required health exam, criminal records check, and drug test.

Grade/Score update 01/2024 SHuffman