Today, the Lansing State Journal published an article about the Lansing Community College’s ITP crisis, which has been fortunately resolved. LCC will not be suspending or cutting the ITP. That’s the good news. However, what is not good news is the numbers of BEI (state-certified) interpreters here in Michigan.
First, before going on any further, it’s important to understand the background of the BEI and how it’s structured. The BEI was developed by the University of Arizona for Texas, and Texas has been using the BEI for several years. It’s interesting to note that Texas’ own interpreters also has trouble passing the test , and they had to tweak the test to address these problems. Despite these tweaks, there are still problems with the passage rate.
The structure of the BEI test has basically 4 tiers. As for all other interpreter qualification tests, one has to take the written portion of the BEI before going onto the performance aspect. There are 3 levels to the BEI, BEI 1; BEI 2; and BEI 3. If one wants to obtain a BEI 3 test, they must take and pass the written portion, and both the performance part of BEI 1 and 2. The only exception to that is if s/he is already nationally certified with a NIC Advanced or Master, or NAD 5. Keep in mind that there are not very many interpreters here in MI that hold these certifications.
Now, Sheryl Emery, the DODHH Director passed out her notes to the Michigan Deaf Association board and visitors at the MDA board meeting on March 12, 2011, and in her notes, she stated that over 210 individuals had taken the BEI (state interpreter test) since it started.
Interestingly enough, she did not state how many passed the written portion of the BEI, which as I stated above, all must pass before moving on to the performance aspect. Personally, I find her omission of the passing rate for the written portion, to the MDA board, to be very deceitful. This is one of the many, many reasons why I strongly believe that she is not being forth-coming with the MI Deaf Community about what truly is going on with the interpreter shortage crisis and the regulations and rules for the2007 amendment to the interpreter law.
Today, the Lansing State Journal has published that data regarding the written portion, which reports it to be at 66%. So only 66% of 210 persons passed the written portion. That equals to 138 individuals. Then out of the 138 individuals, only 62% passed the BEI 1 performance test.
That equals to a grand total of 85 BEI certified interpreters in the entire state of Michigan.
These 85 state certified interpreters, along with only 72 RID certified interpreters (NIC, NIC Advanced and NIC Master certified)*, serve a population of thousands upon thousands of Deaf individuals. Then factor in the fact that MI has 2 VRS centers.
That brings the grand total of community interpreters to 157. Interpreter shortage, anyone?
The interpreter shortage crisis was already acknowledged in 2006, and cited as being a very serious one. Why has not the State, particularly DODHH since it’s their job, ensured that resources and money has been available to address this shortage? Such as providing incentives for universities to have 4 year ITPs? Establishing mentoring programs? The BEI test does not address this shortage, and it appears to me that it’s only making the shortage crisis worse.
I am personally outraged at these statistics, and I hope the MI Deaf Community takes action on this.
___
*The RID data can be found on the RID website. Go to the left sidebar and click on ‘Find Interpreters’ then put in MI in the State box, then NIC and so on for the Certificates box.
Today, the Lansing State Journal published an article about the Lansing Community College’s ITP crisis, which has been fortunately resolved. LCC will not be suspending or cutting the ITP. That’s the good news. However, what is not good news is the numbers of BEI (state-certified) interpreters here in Michigan.
First, before going on any further, it’s important to understand the background of the BEI and how it’s structured. The BEI was developed by the University of Arizona for Texas, and Texas has been using the BEI for several years. It’s interesting to note that Texas’ own interpreters also has trouble passing the test , and they had to tweak the test to address these problems. Despite these tweaks, there are still problems with the passage rate.
The structure of the BEI test has basically 4 tiers. As for all other interpreter qualification tests, one has to take the written portion of the BEI before going onto the performance aspect. There are 3 levels to the BEI, BEI 1; BEI 2; and BEI 3. If one wants to obtain a BEI 3 test, they must take and pass the written portion, and both the performance part of BEI 1 and 2. The only exception to that is if s/he is already nationally certified with a NIC Advanced or Master, or NAD 5. Keep in mind that there are not very many interpreters here in MI that hold these certifications.
Now, Sheryl Emery, the DODHH Director passed out her notes to the Michigan Deaf Association board and visitors at the MDA board meeting on March 12, 2011, and in her notes, she stated that over 210 individuals had taken the BEI (state interpreter test) since it started.
Interestingly enough, she did not state how many passed the written portion of the BEI, which as I stated above, all must pass before moving on to the performance aspect. Personally, I find her omission of the passing rate for the written portion, to the MDA board, to be very deceitful. This is one of the many, many reasons why I strongly believe that she is not being forth-coming with the MI Deaf Community about what truly is going on with the interpreter shortage crisis and the regulations and rules for the2007 amendment to the interpreter law.
Today, the Lansing State Journal has published that data regarding the written portion, which reports it to be at 66%. So only 66% of 210 persons passed the written portion. That equals to 138 individuals. Then out of the 138 individuals, only 62% passed the BEI 1 performance test.
These 85 state certified interpreters, along with only 72 RID certified interpreters (NIC, NIC Advanced and NIC Master certified)*, serve a population of thousands upon thousands of Deaf individuals. Then factor in the fact that MI has 2 VRS centers.
That brings the grand total of community interpreters to 157. Interpreter shortage, anyone?
The interpreter shortage crisis was already acknowledged in 2006, and cited as being a very serious one. Why has not the State, particularly DODHH since it’s their job, ensured that resources and money has been available to address this shortage? Such as providing incentives for universities to have 4 year ITPs? Establishing mentoring programs? The BEI test does not address this shortage, and it appears to me that it’s only making the shortage crisis worse.
I am personally outraged at these statistics, and I hope the MI Deaf Community takes action on this.
___
*The RID data can be found on the RID website. Go to the left sidebar and click on ‘Find Interpreters’ then put in MI in the State box, then NIC and so on for the Certificates box.