64240 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 212 / Wednesday, November 3, 2004 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

RIN 1820–ZA39 

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 

and definitions. 

SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary for 

Special Education and Rehabilitative 

Services proposes priorities and 

definitions under the Training of 

Interpreters for Individuals Who Are 

Deaf or Hard of Hearing and Individuals 

Who Are Deaf-Blind program. The 

Assistant Secretary may use these 

priorities and definitions for 

competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2005 

and later years. We take this action to 

focus on training and education as an 

identified area of national and regional 

need. We intend for the priorities to 

establish a National Interpreter 

Education Center and a Regional 

Interpreter Education Center or Centers 

that will work through Local Partner 

Networks to provide interpreter 

education to interpreters at all skill 

levels. The goal of these priorities is to 

improve the quality of interpreters in 

the field by providing quality 

educational opportunities with 

consumer involvement throughout the 

process and with a specific focus on 

interpreters working with consumers of 

Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services. 

Distance technologies and distance 

education will be a critical component 

to the work of these centers.

DATES: We must receive your comments 

on or before January 3, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about 

these proposed priorities and 

definitions to Annette Reichman, U.S. 

Department of Education, 400 Maryland 

Avenue, SW., room 5032, Potomac 

Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202–

2800. If you prefer to send your 

comments through the Internet, use the 

following address: 

Annette.Reichman@ed.gov.

You must include the term ‘‘Training 

of Interpreters for Individuals Who Are 

Deaf or Hard of Hearing and Individuals 

Who Are Deaf-Blind’’ in the subject line 

of your electronic message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Annette Reichman. Telephone: (202) 

245–7489 (voice) or via Internet: 

Annette.Reichman@ed.gov.

If you use a telecommunications 

device for the deaf (TDD), you may call 

the TDD number at (202) 205–8352.

Individuals with disabilities may 

obtain this document in an alternative 

format (e.g., Braille, large print, 

audiotape, or computer diskette) on 

request to the contact person listed 

under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Invitation To Comment 

We invite you to submit comments 

regarding these proposed priorities and 

definitions. To ensure that your 

comments have maximum effect in 

developing the notice of final priorities 

and definitions, we urge you to identify 

clearly the specific proposed priority or 

definition that each comment addresses. 

We invite you to assist us in 

complying with the specific 

requirements of Executive Order 12866 

and its overall requirement of reducing 

regulatory burden that might result from 

these proposed priorities and 

definitions. Please let us know of any 

further opportunities we should take to 

reduce potential costs or increase 

potential benefits while preserving the 

effective and efficient administration of 

the program. 

During and after the comment period, 

you may inspect all public comments 

about these proposed priorities and 

definitions in room 5032, Potomac 

Center Plaza, 550 12th 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 and 

definitions. If you want to schedule an 

appointment for this type of aid, please 

contact the person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Section 302(f) of the Rehabilitation 

Act of 1973, as amended (Act), and the 

regulations for this program in 34 CFR 

396.1 state that the Training of 

Interpreters for Individuals Who Are 

Deaf or Hard of Hearing and Individuals 

Who Are Deaf-Blind program is 

designed to establish interpreter training 

programs or to assist ongoing training 

programs to train a sufficient number of 

qualified interpreters in order to meet 

the communications needs of 

individuals who are deaf or hard of 

hearing and individuals who are deafblind. The Training of Interpreters for 

Individuals Who Are Deaf or Hard of 

Hearing and Individuals Who Are DeafBlind program provides financial 

assistance to pay part of the costs to— 

(1) Train manual, tactile, oral, and 

cued speech interpreters; 

(2) Ensure the maintenance of the 

skills of interpreters; and 

(3) Provide opportunities for 

interpreters to raise their level of 

competence. 

We propose these priorities and 

definitions to increase the numbers of 

interpreters and the knowledge and 

skills of interpreters working with VR 

consumers. Access to the VR 

environment through the use of 

qualified interpreters will, in turn, 

increase empowerment and 

employment outcomes of deaf, hard of 

hearing, and deaf-blind VR consumers. 

We will announce the final priorities 

and definitions in a notice in the 

Federal Register. We will determine the 

final priorities and definitions after 

considering responses to this notice and 

other information available to the 

Department. This notice does not 

preclude us from proposing or funding 

additional priorities or proposing 

additional definitions, subject to 

meeting applicable rulemaking 

requirements.

Note: This notice does not solicit 

applications. In any year in which we choose 

to use these proposed priorities and 

definitions, we invite applications through a 

notice in the Federal Register. When inviting 

applications, we designate each priority as 

absolute, competitive preference, or 

invitational. The effect of each type of 

priority follows: 

Absolute priority: Under an absolute 

priority, we consider only applications that 

meet the priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(3)). 

Competitive preference priority: Under a 

competitive preference priority, we give 

competitive preference to an application by 

either (1) awarding additional points, 

depending on how well or the extent to 

which the application meets the priority (34 

CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i)); or (2) selecting an 

application that meets the competitive 

priority over an application of comparable 

merit that does not meet the priority (34 CFR 

75.105(c)(2)(ii)). 

Invitational priority: Under an invitational 

priority, we are particularly interested in 

applications that meet the invitational 

priority. However, we do not give an 

application that meets the invitational 

priority a competitive or absolute preference 

over other applications (34 CFR 75.105(c)(1)).

Priorities 

Background 

Currently, the need for interpreting 

services exceeds the available supply of 

qualified interpreters. Federal 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 212 / Wednesday, November 3, 2004 / Notices 64241

legislation, such as the Rehabilitation 

Act of 1973, as amended, and the 

Education for All Handicapped 

Children Act of 1975 (Pub. L. 94–142) 

(now called the Individuals with 

Disabilities Education Act), established 

the legal requirements for 

communication and language access. 

These requirements led to an increased 

demand for qualified interpreters, 

outstripped the available pool, and 

created a serious national shortage. The 

passage of the Americans with 

Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended, 

further increased the demand for 

interpreters and worsened the national 

shortage of qualified interpreters. In 

addition, many States have passed, or 

are now proposing, licensure laws for 

interpreters, requiring interpreters 

working in these States to meet specific 

qualifications, such as specific levels of 

education or certification, or both. 

Therefore, due to the ongoing high 

demand on limited resources, the pool 

of qualified interpreters to provide 

services to VR consumers continues to 

be insufficient. 

Simultaneously, deaf consumers of 

interpreting services have become more 

informed and are demanding higher 

quality interpreting services that meet 

their individual needs. Consumers and 

consumer organizations have expressed 

interest in being substantively involved 

in the identification, development, and 

delivery of the educational 

opportunities provided through these 

proposed priorities. 

In order to train qualified interpreters 

to better meet the demand from 

consumers and consumer organizations, 

interpreter educators must be sufficient 

in number and be knowledgeable of 

current best practices. There are, 

however, very few programs that 

prepare interpreter educators to teach 

the interpreting process and the skill of 

interpreting. Consequently, many 

educators teaching at approximately 137 

interpreter training programs 

throughout the country have had little 

or no opportunity to study how to teach 

interpretation. One of the national 

projects funded from 2000 to 2004 

developed some course material to 

prepare interpreter educators, but this is 

not yet available. The Rehabilitation 

Services Administration (RSA) will 

disseminate these materials through 

these projects once they become 

available. 

To address these issues and to 

contribute toward the education and 

training of a sufficient number of 

qualified interpreters to meet the 

communications needs of individuals 

who are deaf or hard of hearing and 

individuals who are deaf-blind, the 

Assistant Secretary proposes to establish 

priorities for a National Interpreter 

Education Center and a coordinated 

Regional Interpreter Education Center or 

Centers working with and through Local 

Partner Networks.

Proposed Definitions 

For the purposes of these priorities, 

we use the following definitions: 

Deaf means individuals who are deaf, 

hard of hearing, late deafened, or deafblind. The term makes no reference or 

judgment of preferred mode of 

communication or language preference. 

Interpreter means individuals, both 

hearing and deaf, who provide 

interpreting or transliterating, or both, 

for deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind 

individuals using a variety of languages 

and modes of communication including, 

but not limited to, American Sign 

Language, Conceptually Accurate 

Signed English, other forms of signed 

English, oral communication, tactile 

communication, and cued speech. 

Local Partner Network means a formal 

network of individuals, organizations, 

and agencies including consumers, 

consumer organizations, community 

resources, service providers (especially 

VR agencies), VR State coordinators for 

the deaf, rehabilitation counselors for 

the deaf, and other appropriate entities 

with whom the Regional Interpreter 

Education Center will have Memoranda 

of Understanding or other recognized 

mechanisms for the provision of 

educational activities for interpreters. 

National Interpreter Education Center

means a project supported by RSA to—

(1) coordinate the activities of the 

Regional Interpreter Education Centers; 

(2) ensure the effectiveness of the 

educational opportunities offered by the 

Regional Interpreter Education Centers; 

(3) ensure the effectiveness of the 

program as a whole by evaluating and 

reporting outcomes; (4) provide 

technical assistance to the field on 

effective practices in interpreter 

education; and (5) provide educational 

opportunities for interpreter educators. 

Novice interpreter means an 

interpreter who has graduated from an 

interpreter training program and 

demonstrates language fluency in 

American Sign Language and in English, 

but lacks experience working as an 

interpreter. 

Qualified interpreter means an 

interpreter who is able to interpret 

effectively, accurately, and impartially 

both receptively and expressively, using 

any necessary specialized vocabulary. 

This definition, which is mentioned in 

the Senate Report for the Rehabilitation 

Act Amendments of 1998, Senate Report 

105–166 (Second Session 1998), is one 

way for States to determine if 

interpreters are sufficiently qualified 

and is based on the standard specified 

in the regulations implementing titles II 

and III of the Americans with 

Disabilities Act of 1990. 

Regional Interpreter Education Center

means a coordinated regional center to 

provide quality educational 

opportunities for interpreters at all skill 

levels. 

Training and education will be used 

interchangeably. 

Proposed Priority 1—National 

Interpreter Education Center 

The purpose of this priority is to 

support a National Interpreter Education 

Center (National Center) to coordinate 

the activities of the Regional Interpreter 

Education Centers, to ensure the 

effectiveness of the educational 

opportunities offered by the Regional 

Interpreter Education Centers, to ensure 

the effectiveness of the program as a 

whole by evaluating and reporting 

outcomes, to provide technical 

assistance to the field on effective 

practices in interpreter education, and 

to provide educational opportunities for 

interpreter educators. In conducting its 

activities, the National Center must 

ensure the provision of quality 

educational opportunities with 

substantial consumer involvement 

throughout the process and with a 

specific focus on interpreting for 

consumers of VR services. 

The National Center funded under 

this priority must do the following: 

(a) Identify and promote effective 

practices in interpreter education and 

provide technical assistance to the 

Regional Interpreter Education Centers 

and the field on effective practices in 

interpreter education. 

(b) Provide educational opportunities 

to working interpreter educators who 

need to obtain, enhance, or update their 

training on effective practices in 

interpreter education and to new 

interpreter educators. 

(c) Promote improved education of 

interpreters and coordinate the 

interpreter education activities of the 

Regional Interpreter Education Centers 

by—

(1) Developing ‘‘Program Quality 

Indicators’’ for this program, including 

the Regional Interpreter Education 

Centers, and measuring performance 

against these indicators; 

(2) Conducting education needs 

assessments and, based on the results, 

developing educational activities for 

delivery through the Regional 

Interpreter Education Centers;

(3) Collecting, analyzing, and 

reporting to RSA the pre- and postVerDate jul<14>2003 21:12 Nov 02, 2004 Jkt 205001 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\03NON4.SGM 03NON4
64242 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 212 / Wednesday, November 3, 2004 / Notices 

assessment data of the educational 

activities conducted through the 

Regional Interpreter Education Centers; 

(4) Ensuring that educational 

opportunities are available to 

individuals from a variety of cultural 

and linguistic backgrounds and are 

sensitive to the needs of those 

audiences; and 

(5) Ensuring that deaf consumers are 

involved in every aspect of the project. 

(d) Develop effective products for use 

by the Regional Interpreter Education 

Centers in support of their educational 

activities for interpreters (e.g., CDs, 

DVDs, Web-based materials, etc.). 

(e) Promote the educational activities 

of the Regional Interpreter Education 

Centers and disseminate information to 

the field through activities such as—

developing and maintaining a program 

Web site; providing materials to the 

RSA-sponsored National Clearinghouse 

on Rehabilitation Training Materials; 

developing and using Web-based 

activities such as e-newsletters, 

interpreter forums, consumer forums, 

events calendars, etc.; making 

presentations on results of project 

activities at national conferences related 

to interpreting and interpreter 

education; and making presentations on 

results of project activities at consumer 

conferences. 

(f) Collect, evaluate, and report to 

RSA on qualitative and quantitative data 

on the educational activities of the 

Regional Interpreter Education Centers. 

Data must be based on clear, measurable 

goals that are clearly linked to results. 

(g) Use the data about the individual 

educational activities to demonstrate 

overall program effectiveness. Data must 

be based on clear, measurable goals that 

are clearly linked to results. 

(h) Coordinate all activities conducted 

under this program, including the 

activities of the National Center and the 

Regional Interpreter Education Centers, 

to ensure effective use of resources and 

consistency of quality interpreter 

educational opportunities to individuals 

in all geographic areas of the country. 

Fourth and Fifth Years of Project 

In deciding whether to continue this 

project for the fourth and fifth years, the 

Secretary will consider the requirements 

of 34 CFR 75.253(a) for continuation 

awards. 

The Secretary will also consider the 

following: 

(a) The recommendation of a review 

team consisting of experts selected by 

the Secretary. The team will conduct its 

review in Washington, DC, during the 

last half of the project’s second year. A 

project must budget for the travel 

associated with this one-day intensive 

review. 

(b) The timeliness and effectiveness 

with which all requirements of the 

award have been or are being met by the 

project. 

(c) Evidence of the degree to which 

the project’s activities have contributed 

to changed practices and improved the 

quality of interpreters. 

Proposed Priority 2—Regional 

Interpreter Education Center or Centers 

The purpose of this priority is to 

support a coordinated Regional 

Interpreter Education Center or Centers 

to provide quality educational 

opportunities for interpreters at all skill 

levels. The educational opportunities 

provided by a Regional Interpreter 

Education Center, through collaboration 

with Local Partner Networks and with 

substantial involvement from deaf 

consumers, must be of sufficient scope 

and sequence to demonstrate an 

increased skill and knowledge base of 

the participants through the use of preand post-assessments. The pre- and 

post-assessments will measure the 

knowledge and skill base of the 

participants, both when first entering 

the training program and when exiting 

the training program, to demonstrate 

their enhanced knowledge and skills as 

interpreters as a result of the training 

opportunity. In addition, the primary 

focus of the educational opportunities 

must be on interpreting for consumers 

of VR services. Consequently, this 

means educating hearing and deaf 

interpreters to work with consumers 

from diverse cultural and linguistic 

backgrounds in diverse environments 

(i.e., urban, rural, low socioeconomic, 

territories, etc.) and within a variety of 

contexts (i.e., employment, job training, 

technical, medical, etc.).

Further, the educational opportunities 

must encompass both skill-based and 

knowledge-based topics, provide for 

both hearing interpreters and deaf 

interpreters, and focus on interpreting 

for a variety of individuals who have 

communication skills along the full 

spectrum of language from those with 

limited language skills to those with 

high-level, professional language skills. 

Educational opportunities must be 

provided for interpreters from all skill 

levels from novice to advanced, and the 

skill level of the training must be clearly 

identified. All training activities must 

involve cooperative efforts with 

consumers, consumer organizations, 

community resources, and service 

providers, especially VR agencies, VR 

State coordinators for the deaf, and 

rehabilitation counselors for the deaf. 

Delivery of educational opportunities 

may not be limited to traditional 

methods. Distance technologies and 

delivery, use of teams of deaf and 

hearing presenters, assignment of 

mentors, immersion experiences, 

intensive institutes, and other 

innovative practices must be used. 

A Regional Interpreter Education 

Center funded under this priority must 

do the following: 

(a) Develop formal relationships with 

Local Partner Networks as defined in 

this notice. 

(b) In collaboration with the National 

Center, Local Partner Networks, and 

consumers, implement effective 

practices in interpreter education. 

(c) In collaboration with the National 

Center, Local Partner Networks, and 

consumers, implement the ‘‘Program 

Quality Indicators’’ for this program. 

(d) Coordinate with existing 

interpreter training programs to identify 

and conduct outreach activities with 

recent and new graduates in order to 

provide training, including mentoring, 

to make them work-ready. 

(e) In collaboration with the National 

Center, Local Partner Networks, and 

consumers, provide skill-based, contextbased, and knowledge-based interpreter 

education activities of significant scope 

and sequence to interpreters in the 

identified region. Products developed 

by the National Center must be 

incorporated into the educational 

activities to the greatest extent 

appropriate. Educational opportunities 

must include, but not be limited to—

(1) Educating deaf individuals and 

practicing deaf and hearing interpreters 

to serve as mentors and provide 

mentoring to novice and working 

interpreters who need additional 

feedback and experience to become 

qualified; 

(2) Addressing the various linguistic 

and cultural preferences within the 

deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind 

communities through strands of 

specialized interpreter education; 

(3) Focusing on interpreting in 

specialized environments such as 

rehabilitation, legal, medical, mental 

health, or multicultural environments, 

working with specific populations such 

as deaf-blind, oral, tri-lingual, or cued 

speech users, and improving specific 

skill sets such as sign-to-voice 

interpreting, team interpreting, sight 

translation, or ethical decisionmaking 

and professionalism; 

(4) Developing interpretation and 

transliteration competencies for 

interpreters working with deaf, hard of 

hearing, and deaf-blind individuals with 

differing modes of communication, 

including, but not limited to, the use of 

language immersion experiences in 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 212 / Wednesday, November 3, 2004 / Notices 64243

American Sign Language, Conceptually 

Accurate Signed English, oral 

communication, tactile communication, 

and cued speech; 

(5) Using state-of-the-art technologies 

for training on how to deliver 

interpreter services from remote 

locations and in handling various 

technologies during interpreter 

assignments (e.g., microphones, 

assistive listening devices, cameras, 

lights, etc.); and 

(6) Educating consumers on skills 

related to self-advocacy and working 

effectively with interpreters. 

(f) In collaboration with the National 

Center, Local Partner Networks, and 

consumers, implement and deliver the 

specific educational activities identified 

in the education needs assessments. 

(g) Provide information to the 

National Center for the purpose of 

promoting the educational activities of 

the National Center. 

(h) Provide qualitative and 

quantitative data on the educational 

activities conducted, pre- and postassessments, portfolios produced, 

participant demographics, and other 

pertinent information to the National 

Center for the purpose of evaluating 

program effectiveness.

(i) Coordinate and collaborate with 

the other Regional Interpreter Education 

Centers funded by RSA and funded 

through this priority. 

Fourth and Fifth Years of Project 

In deciding whether to continue a 

project for the fourth and fifth years, the 

Secretary will consider the requirements 

of 34 CFR 75.253(a) for continuation 

awards. 

The Secretary will also consider the 

following: 

(a) The recommendation of a review 

team consisting of experts selected by 

the Secretary. The team will conduct its 

review in Washington, DC, during the 

last half of the project’s second year. A 

project must budget for the travel 

associated with this one-day intensive 

review. 

(b) The timeliness and effectiveness 

with which all requirements of the 

award have been or are being met by the 

project. 

(c) Evidence of the degree to which 

the project’s activities have contributed 

to changed practices and improved 

quality of interpreters. 

(d) Evidence of the degree to which 

the project’s activities have served each 

State within its designated geographic 

region. 

Executive Order 12866 

This notice of proposed priorities and 

definitions has been reviewed in 

accordance with Executive Order 12866. 

Under the terms of the order, we have 

assessed the potential costs and benefits 

of this regulatory action. 

The potential costs associated with 

the notice of proposed priorities and 

definitions are those resulting from 

statutory requirements (section 302(f) of 

the Act) and those we have determined 

as necessary for administering this 

program effectively and efficiently. 

In assessing the potential costs and 

benefits—both quantitative and 

qualitative—of this notice of proposed 

priorities and definitions, we have 

determined that the benefits of the 

proposed priorities and definitions 

justify the costs. 

Summary of Potential Costs and 

Benefits 

The potential costs associated with 

these proposed priorities and 

definitions are minimal, while the 

benefits are significant. Grantees may 

anticipate costs associated with 

completing the application process in 

terms of staff time, copying, and mailing 

or delivery. The use of e-Application 

technology reduces mailing and copying 

costs significantly. 

The benefits of the Training of 

Interpreters for Individuals Who Are 

Deaf or Hard of Hearing and Individuals 

Who Are Deaf-Blind program have been 

well established over the years in that 

similar projects have been completed 

successfully. These proposed priorities 

will generate new knowledge through 

training, technical assistance, and 

dissemination of new information to 

improve participation in the community 

for individuals who are deaf or hard of 

hearing or deaf-blind. 

Intergovernmental Review 

This program is subject to Executive 

Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 

CFR part 79. One of the objectives of the 

Executive order is to foster an 

intergovernmental partnership and a 

strengthened federalism. The Executive 

order relies on processes developed by 

State and local governments for 

coordination and review of proposed 

Federal financial assistance. 

This document provides early 

notification of our specific plans and 

actions for this program. 

Applicable Program Regulations: 34 

CFR parts 385 and 396. 

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 the following site: www.ed.gov/news/

fedregister.

To use PDF you must have Adobe 

Acrobat Reader, which is available free 

at this site. If you have questions about 

using 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.gpoaccess.gov/nara/

index.html.

(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)

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

Dated: October 29, 2004. 

Troy R. Justesen, 

Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special 

Education and Rehabilitative Services.

[FR Doc. 04–24584 Filed 11–2–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P