Educational ASL Interpreters

Minnesota Requirements for American Sign Language (ASL) Interpreters Working in Education

• Must have successfully completed an accredited Interpreter Training Program, but it does not have to be a four-year degree.
• For information about Certified Deaf Interpreters (CDIs) working in educational settings, review Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 122A.31 Amendment Update (external site).
• Must be certified through RID or hold a score of 4.0 or higher on the EIPA as well as passed the EIPA written exam.
• Must be a member in good standing with RID

Minnesota Requirements for Non-Certified Educational ASL Interpreters

• Must meet weekly during the school year (at least once every 7 days) either in person or virtually to work on skill development.
• Must test yearly until either attaining the National Interpreter Certification (NIC) or passing the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA): passing the written test and attaining a score of 4.0 or higher on either the elementary or secondary level performance tests. The Board for Evaluation of Interpreters (BEI) certification is not recognized nor accepted under the Minnesota statute for educational ASL interpreters.
• If an educational ASL interpreter has not yet passed the NIC test, or not yet passed both the EIPA written test and the EIPA performance test, with a score of 4.0 or higher) after two years, they must apply for an extension and continue weekly mentoring. (MDE Deaf and Hard of Hearing: General Information about Extensions (external site)).
  Extension due dates are time-sensitive: May 13 and June 3 of each school year.
• If an educational ASL interpreter has not satisfied the statute requirements by the end of the extension period, but achieves an EIPA score of 3.5 - 3.9, they still can work in Minnesota schools. The district must continue to provide weekly mentoring and a written educational plan until the interpreter has passed the written and performance assessments.

Important Procedures After Becoming Credentialed Through the EIPA

• Email the Minnesota Department of Education’s Workforce and Low Incidence Unit Supervisor, Garrett Petrie (garrett.petrie@state.mn.us) that you’ve passed the EIPA and include copies of your EIPA test results indicating that the written test was passed and the selected performance test attained a score of 4.0 or higher.
• Inform your school district’s team leader and supervisor of your passing score and send copies of your documents to your school district’s human resources department.
• If you received financial support from your Regional Low Incidence Project to take the EIPA, please also inform your Regional Low Incidence Facilitator (RLIF) of your score.
• Become an Associate member of the Registry for Interpreters of the Deaf to keep track of your CEUs. Bookmark this link: Earning RID CEUs - Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc (external site).

Resources for Educational ASL Interpreters

For additional resources about this topic, visit our Resources for Educational Sign Language Interpreters page.

For school district resources, visit our School Districts Resources for Hiring and Mentoring Interpreters page.

For mentoring resources, visit the For Educational ASL Interpreter Mentors page.

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