Notice2023-02612
Request for Information Regarding Interpreters and Translators in Education
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
February 8, 2023
Issuing agencies
Education Department
Abstract
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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 26 (Wednesday, February 8, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8263-8264]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[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
<a href="https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/interpreters-and-translators.htm">https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/interpreters-and-translators.htm</a>
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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 <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a>. However, if you require an accommodation or
cannot otherwise submit your comments via <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a>, please
contact the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> 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
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. 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: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5e133b32372d2d3f701b2d3d3f323f302a3b1e3b3a70393128"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2f624a43465c5c4e016a5c4c4e434e415b4a6f4a4b01484059">[email protected]</span></a>.
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 <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-el-201501.pdf">https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-el-201501.pdf</a>.
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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 <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. 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 (<a href="https://eric.ed.gov/">https://eric.ed.gov/</a>). More information about
submitting content to ERIC, including our selection policy and how to
access the online submission portal, can be found at <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/submit/">https://eric.ed.gov/submit/</a>.
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 <a href="http://www.govinfo.gov">www.govinfo.gov</a>. 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
<a href="http://www.federalregister.gov">www.federalregister.gov</a>. 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
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#397c5d177558575e4c585e5c17784a4a504a4d58575a5c795c5d175e564f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a5e0c18be9c4cbc2d0c4c2c08be4d6d6ccd6d1c4cbc6c0e5c0c18bc2cad3">[email protected]</span></a>.
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
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