[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8263-8264]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02612]



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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket ID ED-2023-OELA-0022]


Request for Information Regarding Interpreters and Translators in 
Education

AGENCY: Office of English Language Acquisition, Department of 
Education.

ACTION: Request for information.

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SUMMARY: The Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) provides 
national leadership to help ensure that English learners, including 
immigrant children and youth, attain English proficiency and achieve 
academic success. Additionally, OELA is committed to preserving 
heritage languages and cultures and promoting opportunities for 
biliteracy or multiliteracy skills for all students. Through this 
request for information (RFI), OELA seeks public input to help the U.S. 
Department of Education (the Department) discover what practices are 
currently being used to recruit, hire, train, and retain interpreters 
and translators \1\ for services within early childhood through 
secondary educational settings.
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    \1\ For the purposes of this RFI, we define interpreters and 
translators according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 
definition: ``Interpreters and translators convert information from 
one language into another language. Interpreters work in spoken or 
sign language; translators work in written language.'' Available at 
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/interpreters-and-translators.htm

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DATES: We must receive your comments on or before March 27, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal at regulations.gov. However, if you require an accommodation or 
cannot otherwise submit your comments via regulations.gov, please 
contact the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to submit 
your comments electronically. Information on using Regulations.gov, 
including instructions for accessing agency documents, submitting 
comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site under 
``FAQs.''
    Privacy Note: The Department's policy is to make all comments 
received from members of the public available for public viewing in 
their entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
www.regulations.gov. Therefore, commenters should be careful to include 
in their comments only information that they wish to make publicly 
available. Commenters should not include in their comments any 
information that identifies other individuals or that permits readers 
to identify other individuals.
    This is an RFI only. This RFI is not a request for proposal (RFP) 
or a promise to issue an RFP or a notice inviting applications. This 
RFI does not commit the Department to contract for any supply or 
service whatsoever. Further, we are not seeking proposals and will not 
accept unsolicited proposals. The Department will not pay for any 
information or administrative costs that you may incur in responding to 
this RFI. The documents and information submitted in response to this 
RFI become the property of the U.S. Government and will not be 
returned.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Melissa Escalante, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: 
(202) 245-8385. Email: [email protected].
    If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability and 
wish to access telecommunications relay services, please dial 7-1-1.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Interpreters and translators currently work in educational settings 
across the United States, and they play a critical role within schools 
and educational settings in relaying important, accurate written or 
oral information to educators and parents or legal guardians.
    Despite the consistent need for interpreters and translators in 
high stakes meetings that impact students' educational experiences and 
paths to success, there is not an established set of common industry 
standards for interpreters and translators in the field of education. 
Without common standards, it is unclear how many interpreters and 
translators within the education community have training, experience, 
and certification in fields related to language services.
    OELA's stakeholders within the educational community have expressed 
concerns that the communication that takes place between educators, 
students, parents, families, and legal guardians may be adversely 
impacted if an interpreter or translator is not prepared to navigate 
the intricacies of ``student pathway to success'' meetings (e.g., 
meetings that address Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), 
Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs), Section 504 plans, 
disciplinary action, or extracurricular or advanced learning 
opportunities). The Department would like to further strengthen our 
commitment to support English learner students and families under 
Titles I and III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), 
which require that communications be provided in an understandable 
format and, to the extent practicable, in a language that parents, 
guardians, and communities understand, and that school districts and 
service providers conduct outreach to parents or legal guardians of 
English learners, including by holding regular meetings.\2\
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    \2\ See Sections 1112(e)(3) and (e)(4) and 3115(c)(3) of the 
ESEA; furthermore, in order for public schools to comply with their 
legal obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 
(Title VI), they must take affirmative steps to ensure that students 
with limited English proficiency can meaningfully participate in 
their educational programs and services. Public schools must also 
ensure parents and guardians with limited language proficiency have 
meaningful access to district and school-related information. See 
Lau v. Nichols, 414 U.S. 563 (1974); 42 U.S.C. 2000d to d-7 
(prohibiting race, color, and national origin discrimination in any 
program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance); and 
Dear Colleague Letter, English Learner Students and Limited English 
Proficient Parents, Departments of Education and Justice, January 
2015, available at https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-el-201501.pdf.
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    The Department is interested in learning what practices, methods, 
standards, and procedures are being used by States and districts to 
recruit, hire, train, and retain interpreters and translators who are 
familiar with and skilled in educational settings. OELA is interested 
in compiling this information and furthering the conversation regarding 
interpreters and translators to help support all students to succeed 
academically.
    We will review every comment, and, as described above, electronic 
comments in response to this RFI will be publicly available on the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov. Please note that 
OELA will not directly acknowledge or respond to comments, including 
comments that contain specific questions or inquiries. Receipt of 
comments in response to this request for information does not imply 
that OELA has decided to issue guidance, technical assistance, or other 
resources.

Solicitation of Comments

    OELA invites stakeholders who are aware of policies and practices 
that are specifically relevant to interpreters and translators in all 
education settings across States, districts, and schools to address the 
questions below in their comments.

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Standards and Practices

    1. What are the standards and practices used for selecting 
interpreters and translators?
    2. What technical support activities related to interpretation and 
translation can you identify and share? Are the technical support 
activities consistent across the State or districts?
    3. Under what circumstances are interpreter and translator services 
utilized? What types of tasks, activities, or situations are 
interpreter and translator services used for? Examples might include 
oral and written communication related to school events or student 
services, parent-teacher conferences, and programs implemented to 
identify English language learners, IEP or 504 meetings.
    4. How are interpreters and translators staffed by the school or 
program? Are they permanent employees who are either on-site or 
available as needed, or are they acquired through a service contract 
and available on demand?
    5. How are interpreter and translator services funded?
    6. When and how do districts determine if a translator or 
interpreter is needed?

Written Policies

    7. What written policies do you rely on regarding interpreter and 
translator services? What policies, if any, are there on standards or 
practices at the State or district level?
    8. What research, if any, was used to draft policies and procedures 
related to interpretation and translation?

Training

    9. What training is required for initial certification as well as 
for maintaining the certification of interpreters and translators?
    10. What trainings are provided to school staff or volunteers to 
facilitate the coordination of interpreter and translator services for 
families and students?

Data

    11. What data, if any, can you share on the use of interpreters and 
translators? For example, how often are the services requested by 
school staff or students, parents, or legal guardians? How are the 
services categorized? Are the services primarily oral, written, or 
both?
    Commenters are encouraged to include written policies and 
procedures used by schools, districts, or States.
    The Department is committed to improving the public's access to, 
and the discoverability of, education research. In service of that 
goal, we encourage responders to share any publications with us, and we 
invite authors, those who hold copyright, or their authorized 
representatives to consider depositing eligible content into ERIC, the 
Institute of Education Sciences' bibliographic and full-text database 
of education research (https://eric.ed.gov/). More information about 
submitting content to ERIC, including our selection policy and how to 
access the online submission portal, can be found at https://eric.ed.gov/submit/.
    Accessible Format: On request to the program contact person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, individuals with disabilities 
can obtain this document in an accessible format. The Department will 
provide the requestor with an accessible format that may include Rich 
Text Format (RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file, 
braille, large print, audiotape, or compact disc, or other accessible 
format.
    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may 
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of 
Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can view this 
document, as well as all other documents of this Department published 
in the Federal Register, in text or Portable Document Format (PDF). To 
use PDF, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at 
the site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.
    The Department of Education is committed to making its publications 
available to all members of the public. If you have difficulty 
understanding English, you may, free of charge, request language 
assistance services for Department information by calling 1-800-USA-
LEARN (1-800-872-5327) (TTY: 1-800-877-8339), or email us at 
[email protected].

Montserrat Garibay,
Acting Assistant Deputy Secretary and Director, Office of English 
Language Acquisition.
[FR Doc. 2023-02612 Filed 2-7-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P