Interpreters
cannot adequately perform their job without knowledge of the principles of
appropriate professional conduct and basic legal and justice system
terminology and concepts. Research has shown, however, that many
interpreters used by the courts have not mastered these fundamentals. This
measure involves administering a written test that is used to determine
whether interpreters have acquired this knowledge. Other essential job
requirements—language proficiency and interpreting skills—must be
measured independently.
Measures
1.3.3 and 1.3.4 may be unnecessary if courts already have a valid and
reliable testing process for interpreters used in their courts, including
freelance interpreters. If freelance interpreters are not tested prior to
employment, use of the measure should be considered.
Planning/Preparation.
Preparation for this measure involves reviewing and modifying the attached
model written test (see Form 1.3.3,
Court Interpreter Terminology, Procedure, Protocol, and Ethics Fundamentals
Test) to ensure that it reflects local terminology and concepts. After the
revisions are complete, the instrument should be pretested by giving it to
at least three experienced local court personnel or practicing lawyers
(legal and justice system terminology) and to at least two professional
court interpreters (questions related to professional conduct). No time
limit should be imposed during the pilot test.
All
pilot test takers should agree on which answer is correct for each test item
and that there is only one correct answer. If there is disagreement, the
question should be eliminated or replaced with a test item that is agreed
upon by the test takers. Each test taker should also be asked to suggest
cutoff scores for "excellent," "good,"
"acceptable," "poor," and "very poor" levels
of performance on the exam. It is recommended that the test then be reviewed
by at least one judge (preferably two) before setting the final criteria
that will be used to evaluate individual test performance.
Data
Collection. Data
collection involves administering the test to all or a majority of the
individuals who the court uses as interpreters, and then scoring the test
using a standardized scoring guide. It is useful to prepare a scoring
template to add greater speed and reliability to the scoring process.
Data
Analysis and Report Preparation.
Results should be analyzed using a standard statistical analysis and
reporting software package, if possible. This method allows greater speed
and flexibility of analysis. Every time the test is administered, the new
scores should be added to the database. The analysis should include, at a
minimum, a frequency report showing the number and percentage of test takers
in each ranking group (i.e., "excellent," "good," etc.).
It is recommended that the analysis also include frequency reports of score
rankings by language, and, within each language group and overall,
breakdowns by years of experience and educational level.
