[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 89 (Monday, May 10, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25140-25142]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-11703]



[[Page 25139]]

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Part IV





Department of Education





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Training of Interpreters for Individuals Who Are Deaf or Hard of 
Hearing and Individuals Who Are Deaf-Blind; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 89 / Monday, May 10, 1999 / Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Training of Interpreters for Individuals Who Are Deaf or Hard of 
Hearing and Individuals Who Are Deaf-Blind

AGENCY: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, 
Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of proposed priorities for fiscal year (FY) 2000 and 
subsequent fiscal years

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SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes funding priorities under the Training 
of Interpreters for Individuals Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing and 
Individuals Who Are Deaf-Blind program. The Secretary may use these 
priorities for competitions in FY 2000 and in subsequent years. The 
Secretary takes this action to assist with the establishment of 
interpreter training programs or to assist ongoing programs to train a 
sufficient number of qualified interpreters throughout the country to 
meet the communication needs of individuals who are deaf or hard of 
hearing and individuals who are deaf-blind by-- (a) Training new 
manual, tactile, oral, and cued speech interpreters; (b) Ensuring the 
maintenance of the skills of working interpreters; and (c) Providing 
opportunities for interpreters to raise their level of competence and 
expand their skills.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 9, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about these proposed priorities to Mary 
Lovley, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Mary E. 
Switzer Building, Room 3217, Washington, DC 20202-2736. If you prefer 
to send your comments through the Internet, use the following address:
Mary__L[email protected]

    You must include the term ``Grants for Training Interpreters'' in 
the subject line of your electronic message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Lovley. Telephone: (202) 205-
9393. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you 
may call the TDD number at (202) 401-3664.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the contact person listed in the preceding 
paragraph.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Training of Interpreters for Individuals 
Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing and Individuals Who Are Deaf-Blind 
program is authorized under section 302(f) of the Rehabilitation Act of 
1973, as amended.

Goals 2000: Educate America Act

    The Goals 2000: Educate America Act (Goals 2000) focuses the 
Nation's education reform efforts on the eight National Education Goals 
and provides a framework for meeting them. Goals 2000 promotes new 
partnerships to strengthen schools and expands the Department's 
capacities for helping communities to exchange ideas and obtain 
information needed to achieve the goals.
    These proposed priorities support the National Education Goal that, 
by the year 2000, every adult American will be literate and will 
possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global 
economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. 
The proposed priorities further the objectives of this Goal by focusing 
available funds on projects that train a sufficient number of qualified 
interpreters throughout the country to meet the communication needs of 
individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing and individuals who are 
deaf-blind. Training and improving the manual, tactile, oral, and cued 
speech interpreting skills of interpreters working in vocational 
rehabilitation environments will improve the ability of individuals who 
are deaf or hard of hearing and individuals who are deaf-blind to 
function successfully in their vocational pursuits.
    The Secretary will announce the final priorities in a notice in the 
Federal Register. The final priorities will be determined by responses 
to this notice, available funds, and other considerations of the 
Department. Funding of particular projects depends on the availability 
of funds, the nature of the final priorities, and the quality of the 
applications received. The publication of these proposed priorities 
does not preclude the Secretary from proposing additional priorities, 
nor does it limit the Secretary to funding only these priorities, 
subject to meeting applicable rulemaking requirements.

    Note: This notice does not solicit applications. In any year in 
which the Secretary chooses to use any of these priorities, the 
Secretary invites applications through a notice in the Federal 
Register. A notice inviting applications under these competitions 
will be published in the Federal Register concurrent with or 
following publication of the notice of final priorities.

Priorities

    Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) the Secretary proposes to give an 
absolute preference to applications that meet one of the following 
priorities. The Secretary proposes to fund under these competitions 
only applications that meet one of these absolute priorities:

Proposed Priority 1--National Project With Major Emphasis on Distance 
Education as a Medium for Interpreter Training

Background
    Historically interpreter training programs have been located in 
colleges and universities in metropolitan areas or in areas of high 
population. While demand for interpreter services exceeds the supply of 
interpreters even in metropolitan areas, the dearth of interpreters in 
rural areas is marked. A Study of Interpreter Services for Persons Who 
are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, published in 1993, concluded that ``there 
is sufficient work/need for additional professional interpreters in 
every state and many major communities.'' Organizations such as the 
National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and the Registry of Interpreters 
for the Deaf (RID) have also identified the shortage of qualified 
interpreters. Some States, such as Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, 
Nevada, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia, as well 
as Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Trust Territories of 
the Pacific other than Guam, have no degree granting interpreter 
training program. Due to the relatively sparse population in large 
geographical areas, student enrollment may not be sufficient to support 
interpreter training programs should they be established in these 
areas. As a result, individuals living in these States or areas who are 
interested in obtaining interpreter training must seek that training at 
a great distance from their homes. Further, the few working 
interpreters living in these States or areas who wish to maintain or 
upgrade their skills often find it difficult to locate nearby sources 
for continuing education. Distance education can help fill this void. 
The challenge, however, is to effectively deliver the interpreter 
training curricula, which is a skill-based, visual-based curricula 
rather than a knowledge-based or text-based curricula. Therefore, it is 
of critical importance that interpreter training curricula be modified 
to make the best use of a blend of all of the available technologies, 
such as video conferencing, internet web classes and chat rooms, e-
mail, and voice mail. With proper curricular modifications, interpreter 
training can be provided via distance education to rural areas, remote 
locations, and areas with low populations in a cost-effective manner.

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    The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) has determined 
that a national project is needed that will focus on adapting existing 
model interpreter training curricula used by two-year and four-year 
interpreter training programs for delivery via distance education. In 
addition, there is a need for technical assistance to, and coordination 
and cooperation with, interpreter training programs across the Nation 
on matters related to the use of distance education as a medium for 
interpreter training.
Priority
    A project must--
     Be national in scope;
     Adapt or modify existing model interpreter training 
curricula or develop new appropriate interpreter training curricula for 
delivery via distance education and package it for easy use by the RSA-
funded regional interpreter training projects and other trainers and 
interpreter training programs;
     Develop detailed instruction manuals to accompany each 
packaged curriculum;
     Provide technical assistance to interpreter training 
programs on the feasibility and effectiveness of distance interpreter 
education;
     Establish cooperative working relationships with the RSA-
funded regional interpreter training projects;
     Furnish technical assistance to the RSA-funded regional 
interpreter training projects in developing and using distance 
education as a mechanism for training interpreters to meet the 
communication needs of individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or 
deaf-blind in their regions;
     Provide technical assistance and professional development 
opportunities for interpreter trainers across the Nation on the 
development and use of distance education as a mechanism for training 
interpreters to meet the communication needs of individuals who are 
deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind. The technical assistance must 
address matters such as the proper use of the distance interpreter 
education curriculum; the proper use of the most current and available 
technologies, such as video conferencing, videotaping, internet web 
classes and chat rooms, e-mail, and voice mail; the technical 
infrastructure needed to successfully conduct distance interpreter 
education; and the policy implications and barriers that exist in 
providing distance interpreter education across a State or across State 
lines (e.g., classification of distance education students as in-State 
or out-of-State, the geographic area the institution is designed to 
serve, etc.); and
     Disseminate the packaged distance education curricula to 
interpreter educators nationwide.

Proposed Priority 2--National Project With Major Emphasis on Training 
Interpreter Educators

Background
    In order to train qualified interpreters, interpreter educators 
must be both sufficient in number and current in knowledge and best 
practices. There are, however, very few programs that prepare 
interpreter educators to teach the interpreting process and the skill 
of interpreting. As a result, many faculty teaching at the 100-plus 
interpreter training programs have had little or no opportunity to 
study how to teach interpretation. Further, over the last 10 years RSA 
has funded the development of model curricula emphasizing the 
interpreting needs of culturally diverse communities, deaf-blind 
interpreting, and interpreting in educational and rehabilitation 
environments. Due to the low number of programs to train interpreter 
educators, this curriculum is not being shared widely and, as a result, 
is not being used extensively.
    The model curricula on interpreting in educational environments and 
interpreting in rehabilitation environments is available at the 
National Clearinghouse of Rehabilitation Training Materials at Oklahoma 
State University, 5202 Richmond Hill Drive, Stillwater, OK 74078-4080. 
The model curricula on the interpreting needs of culturally diverse 
communities and interpreting for individuals who are deaf-blind are 
being developed under currently funded projects. These curricula will 
be available at the National Clearinghouse of Rehabilitation Training 
Materials once these projects have completed their activities. The 
project developing the model curriculum on the interpreting needs of 
culturally diverse communities ends on December 31, 2000, and the 
project developing the model curriculum on interpreting for individuals 
who are deaf-blind ends on September 30, 2000.
    Another aspect of training a sufficient number of qualified 
interpreters is the practice of mentoring. Mentors are experienced 
interpreters and interpreter educators who provide one-on-one technical 
assistance to novice interpreters or to working interpreters who wish 
to improve or expand their skills or work toward certification. While 
``mentoring is not a substitute for comprehensive interpreter education 
or for the internships and practicums associated with such formal 
training'' (RID Standard Practice Paper on ``Mentoring''), it supports 
and augments the training received in those settings. While the field 
of interpreting embraces the use of mentoring, there is no established 
uniform mechanism for training individuals to serve as mentors.
    In order to train a sufficient number of qualified interpreters 
throughout the country, there is a need to increase the number of 
highly trained interpreter educators and mentors. A national project is 
needed to address these issues.
Priority
    A project must--
     Be national in scope;
     Develop a new curriculum, or update a former or existing 
curriculum, to prepare interpreter educators and, once this is 
developed, use it to train both working interpreter educators who need 
to obtain, enhance, or update their training and new interpreter 
educators. This newly developed or updated curriculum must include all 
issues pertinent to the training of interpreters and the use of the 
model curricula developed by recent and current RSA-funded national 
interpreter training projects that emphasize the interpreting needs of 
culturally diverse communities, interpreting for deaf-blind 
individuals, and interpreting in educational and rehabilitation 
environments;
     Identify and update or develop a model mentor training 
curriculum that includes elements such as diagnostic assessment, goal 
setting, discourse analysis, and effective feedback provision and, once 
this is developed, train experienced interpreters or interpreter 
educators to serve as mentors. This mentor training program must train 
mentors to serve in a variety of situations or environments (i.e., in 
urban and rural settings; in various regions; in culturally diverse 
environments; in situations in which various modes of communication 
(deaf-blind, oral, cued speech, etc.) are present; in specialized 
settings (legal, medical, educational, etc.); and with interns at 
varying skill levels, etc.);
     Provide technical assistance to organizations or bodies 
establishing mentorship programs and to existing mentorship programs on 
all aspects of mentoring, including the identification of trained 
mentors;
     Ensure that the curricula are developed with input from a 
culturally diverse, consumer-based consortium;
     Ensure that training is available to culturally diverse 
audiences and is sensitive to the needs of all audiences;

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     Use innovative as well as traditional approaches to the 
provision of training (i.e., distance education, short-term intensive 
training sessions or seminars, delivering training to communities in 
need, etc.); and
     Establish cooperative relationships with the regional 
interpreter training projects the Secretary plans to propose in fiscal 
year 2000.

Intergovernmental Review

    This program is subject to the requirements of Executive Order 
12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. The objective of the 
Executive order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a 
strengthened federalism by relying on processes developed by State and 
local governments for coordination and review of proposed Federal 
financial assistance.
    In accordance with the order, this document is intended to provide 
early notification of the Department's specific plans and actions for 
this program.

Invitation To Comment

    We invite you to submit comments and recommendations regarding 
these proposed priorities. During and after the comment period, you may 
inspect all public comments about these proposed priorities in the Mary 
E. Switzer Building, Room 3217, 330 C Street, SW., Washington, DC., 
between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through 
Friday of each week except Federal holidays.

Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the Rulemaking 
Record

    On request, we will supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or 
print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs 
assistance to review the comments or other documents in the public 
rulemaking record for these proposed priorities. If you want to 
schedule an appointment for this type of aid, you may call (202) 205-
8113 or (202) 260-9895. If you use a TDD, you may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.

Electronic Access to This Document

    You may view this document, as well as all other Department of 
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe 
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at either of the 
following sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html

To use the PDF you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with 
Search, which is available free at either of the previous sites. If you 
have questions about using the PDF, call the U.S. Government Printing 
Office (GPO) toll free at 1-888-293-6498; or in the Washington, DC, 
area at (202) 512-1530.

    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the 
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal 
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://
www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html

    Program Authority: 29 U.S.C.772(f).

    Dated: May 5, 1999.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.160, Training of 
Interpreters for Individuals Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing and 
Individuals Who Are Deaf-Blind)
Judith E. Heumann,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 99-11703 Filed 5-7-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U