Module 3: Tips for Providing Language Access and Working with Interpreters

Sara Kupzyk; Apryl Poch

Module 3: Tips for Providing Language Access and Working with Interpreters

Pause and Think

Imagine sitting at a meeting with people talking about someone you care about in a language you don’t understand. They hand you a paper written in that language so that you can “follow along.”

How would you feel?
What would you do?

Now, imagine a time when someone made you feel welcome and understood.

What impact did that have on you?

Watch as Dr. Debbie Zacarian describes the importance of providing language access to families within the special education process.

Video: Including ELL parents through the referral process

Providing language access is an essential piece of family engagement. If families are not given information in an accessible way and provided opportunities to share, trust, the foundation for engagement, is likely to be lacking. In this video, Dr. Jennifer Love describes school district’s obligations in providing language access.

Video: What are a school district’s obligations in providing language access?

Overall, families that speak another language, including sign language, have the right to receive information in a language that they understand to ensure equal access. It is important to note that translation and interpreter services must be provided by a trained individual, not the student, friends, or untrained staff (US Department of Education, 2015). See the feature below to learn more about strategies for partnering with interpreters from the National Education Association. It takes practice to partner with interpreters, so be open to feedback!

Some federal and state websites provide information about special education in various languages. For example:

Resource tab of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) website, language assistance is available in more than 170 languages.
Users of the Nebraska Department of Education Special Education website can view information in 13 languages.
The Center for Parent Information and Resources offers information for families in Spanish and allows users to select accessibility settings (e.g., text size, hide images, line height, contrast) when viewing the website.

STRATEGIES FOR PARTNERING WITH INTERPRETERS

From the National Education Association Equity Through Language Access: Best Practices for Collaborating with Interpreters Toolkit

Tips for teachers

Never utilize students to interpret for any reason. Ever. This is because educational interpreting requires a high level of preparation and cognitive skill — many more skills than just being bilingual! Furthermore, much of the information communicated to parents in schools is confidential and/or vital. In addition, the federal guidance from 2015 states ”Schools must provide translation or interpretation from appropriate and competent individuals and may not rely on or ask students, siblings, friends, or untrained school staff to translate or interpret for parents.”
Clarify roles with your bilingual colleagues and with the support of an administrator if needed.
Seek out (or advocate for) training on how to work effectively with interpreters in order to ensure appropriate eye contact and parent-focused communication.
Get to know the communicative needs of your families and avoid making assumptions about English proficiency levels.
Whenever possible, connect with the interpreter before the meeting to share important documents and prepare them for sensitive topics that may arise.
Encourage your instructional colleagues to utilize language access resources that are available.
For planned meetings, request interpreting services in advance.
Keep in mind that families may have varying levels of literacy and some families may not be able to read emails, text messages, or flyers.

Tips to share with families

You can share the following tips with families in their home languages, as well as with staff in discussions about increasing language access in your school or district:

Learn about resources for English learners and their families. The Family Toolkit developed by the US Department of Education is available in four languages.
Find out what type of language assistance exists in your district. Are there interpreters available in-person, virtually, or by phone? Are documents translated?
Utilize an  Language identification or “I Speak” card if needed. This is one from the US Department of Agriculture.
If little to no language assistance is available, talk to your child’s principal or another administrator about your concerns.

More et al. (2015) outlined these strategies for working with interpreters during IEP meetings

Before the Meeting	Strategies Meet and talk with interpreter before the meeting Lay a foundation for the meeting Ask questions about interpreter’s style Clarify interpreter’s role Ascertain interpreter’s previous experience/ comfort level with IEP meetings Provide training in use of specialized educational terms/procedures Self-Assessment Did I meet with the interpreter before the meeting? Did the parties seem to feel comfortable? Did I ask the interpreter about his or her experience in interpreting for IEP meetings? Did I ask the interpreter to communicate to me if cultural misunderstandings occurred?
During the Meeting	Reassuring Strategies Remind all participants of the importance of confidentiality Ensure all meeting participants speak directly to the parents and other family members (look at the family, not the interpreter) Reassure parents of their important role in the meeting Respect any level of parent participation, understanding cultural norms Highlight strengths of the student Clarifying Strategies Ask open-ended, clarifying questions Check for understanding not only with the family but also with the interpreter Avoid jargon and oversimplification of discussed information Summarize key points at meeting’s end Be aware of nonverbal body language of interpreter and families Self-Assessment Was the concept of confidentiality reinforced during the meeting? Was I attentive to nonverbal cues and the interpreter’s reactions? Did I speak directly to the family? Was there an appropriate pace to the meeting? Did I provide enough pauses for the interpreter Did I clarify/provide an explanation of any educational terms used in the meeting? Was any information oversimplified? Did I use team building statements that utilized the words we, us, our? Were key points summarized? Did I check for understanding/ask clarifying questions?
After the Meeting	Strategies Discuss any interpretation-related difficulties that occurred during meeting Ask families to discuss their level of satisfaction with interpreted meeting Seek professional development regarding language interpretation for all team members as necessary Self-Assessment Did I ask the family members about their satisfaction regarding the meeting? Did I encourage the family to contact the school with questions? Did I provide a translated written summary of the meeting? Did I inform the parents about when they would receive a translated copy of the IEP? Did I send the IEP document for translation? Did I ask the interpreter if any problems occurred during the meeting? Were solutions to identified problems brainstormed?

Overall, school professionals are in an ideal role to advocate for family’s rights to access information that is accessible, and to point families to resources that provide language support (Strassfeld, 2019).

Module 3 Case Scenarios

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Family-Engaged Educational Training: Taking Steps to Build Meaningful Family-School Partnerships Copyright © 2024 by Sara Kupzyk is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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