In-Service Trends: General Education Teachers Working with Educational Interpreters

The "inclusion" movement has resulted in a shift of placement for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Over 50% of students who are deaf or hard of hearing are now attending academic classes with hearing students in public school settings (Schildroth & Hotto, 1993). As the enrollment of deaf and hard of hearing students in public schools continues to increase, so does the need for qualified educational interpreters. The present study was designed to investigate nation-wide the in-service training that general- education teachers receive with regard to the roles and responsibilities of educational interpreters. One hundred elementary and secondary general education teachers were surveyed, yielding a 59% return rate. Less than 33% of those teachers who returned surveys had attended in-services on the topic of educational interpreters. Neither the academic level (i.e., elementary and secondary) of the teachers who participated or the number of students who were deaf or hard of hearing and in attendance at a school influenced the number of in-services provided on the topic of interpreting.