Language Assistance Services Unit → Oral Interpretation
Oral Interpretation Services in MCPS
Get Paid to Interpret
The Office of Human Resources offers a multilingual interpretation test to members of Service Employees International Union Local 500. Employees who pass this text are eligible for a pay differential for time spent interpreting for their local worksite in situations where they would not normally be working with families. Those interested in taking the test should speak to their principal or director who can then begin the approval process for testing and for the pay differential.
The interpretation team of the MCPS Language Assistance Services Unit (LASU) works with contract interpreters and professional part-time MCPS staff to provide real-time, face-to-face communication with individual students, their families, and groups of students or parents to facilitate communication with those who communicate best in a language other than English. The LASU cannot provide interpretation services for personnel issues.
Various volunteer interpretation services are available, such as the Montgomery County Government Volunteer Language Bank. Schools and offices may use such services, if they wish. These could be particularly helpful during high demand times, such as November report-card conference time.
When a school or office has attempted to access MCPS resources, but none are available, personnel should use the Language Line , a fee-for-service resource available to all MCPS personnel for interpretation needs. Language Line is only authorized for telephone interpretation services when other resources have been exhausted OR for short encounters (20 minutes or less).
What Interpretation Services Are Available Through the LASU?
The LASU can provide interpreters for individual meetings with families including parent-teacher conferences, Educational Management Team, Individualized Education Program, Positive Behavioral Intervention System, and disciplinary meetings. The availability of interpeters varies according to the language needed and competing requests from various schools and offices. It is always best to request an interpreter as soon as it is known that one will be needed.
The LASU can provide interpreters for individual eligibility assessments of students. When the language is not immediately available within the current corps of contractors, LASU staff will work to recruit candidates for assessments. Difficulties in finding interpreters for assessments should be addressed to María Elena Escobar, LASU publications manager.
The LASU can also provide interpreters for large, informational meetings and "town-hall" forums. LASU has a limited supply of radio transmitters and receivers, with a range of about 300 feet, that schools and offices can borrow for interpretations of large-scale meetings, whether or not the interpreters are provided by the LASU.
The Proper Use of an Interpreter
Interpreters are hired and paid for one job only: to take the message of a speaker who uses a particular language and transmit that message to a listener in another particular language.
An interpreter's responsibility is limited to:
- Calling the parent two or three days before the meeting to remind the parent of the date, time, and place of the meeting.
- Arriving at least ten minutes before the parents are due to arrive for the meeting.
- Interpreting the content of the meeting to assure that parents participate meaningfully in the meeting.
- Interpreting only that which school personnel or parents actually say.
- Redirecting any questions a meeting participant asks them personally back to the meeting participants.
- Serving as a "Cultural Broker," providing cultural context to clarify, without changing the message.
- Reviewing with the school personnel what worked well and what could be improved in the interpretation process.
- Helping schools locate parents when they are late for or miss a meeting.
- Respecting confidentiality before, during, and after the meeting.
If a meeting is canceled, the requestor should immediately inform the language services assistant handling the request AND the interpreter by telephone and by e-mail.
MCPS will pay an interpreter for one hour of services if MCPS staff fail to inform the interpreter of a meeting cancelation with less than 24 hours notice. Requesting units will be charged a penalty equivalent to the cost of two hours of services if they fail to inform the LASU of a meeting cancelation with at least 24 hours notice, except in cases of last minute cancelations by parents or documented illness of essential meeting participants.
Interpreters may not engage with parents independently of school personnel. They may not make informational phone calls or sit in on meetings when parents are unable to attend so as to explain the procedings to parents later. They may only interpret in real time the oral message of school staff to parents. They are not qualified to provide the message on their own terms.
More Information on Interpreter Responsibilities
Submitting Requests for Oral Interpretation Services in MCPS
Interpretation requests are submitted using MCPS Form 311-10. Once the form is completed, save it to a hard drive. Send the completed form to Interpretations by e-mail. In the Subject: line of the e-mail, include the date, time, language, and purpose of the request. Do NOT include an individual student's name. In the body of the e-mail you may wish to comment on a "snow date" or make a request for a specific interpreter. A video demonstration is available as a guide for completing MCPS Form 311-10.
Interpreters may be able to let school or office personnel know of their general availability for meetings, but LASU language services assistants are continuously responding to requests and may have tentatively scheduled the same interpreterfor a request that has already been submitted. The LASU cannot honor requests made outside of official channels. The school or office would be responsible for paying interpreters scheduled directly, since they would have contracted directly with the interpreter.