Virginia Law

Each candidate's performance will be assessed either by a screening panel present during the assessment or videotaped and rated by individual raters. Panelists/raters will assess only the segments for which they have been specifically trained.

A. Assessment team.

1. A screening panel or individual ratings shall consist of at least one panelist/rater who is hearing and one panelist/rater who is deaf or hard of hearing.

2. All panelists/raters shall be fluent in the language mode being assessed and shall have successfully completed rater training as administered by the agency.

B. Screening components.

Each screening is comprised of two major categories:

1. Part I - Code of Ethics: (General knowledge and application). Shall be administered prior to the other category orally (in front of a live panel, on videotape, or both) or in writing (in the presence of a monitor).

NOTE: A candidate may not participate in a performance assessment until 90% competency has been demonstrated on Part I, the Code of Ethics assessment.

2. Part II - Skills Assessment.

a. Sign Language Assessment. Interpreting (ASL) Performance: (Expressive and receptive abilities using ASL vocabulary, structure, and components) and Transliterating (English) Performance (Expressive and receptive abilities using a form of manually-coded English). The assessment may be administered in front of a live panel, on videotape, or both.

b. Cued Speech. Transliterating Performance: Expressive and receptive abilities using cued speech hand shapes and mouth movements. The assessment may be administered in front of a live panel, on videotape, or both.

C. Awarding of screening levels.

Each panelist/rater will independently assess a candidate's performance and assign a raw score for the required competencies within each category (Parts I and II). Raw scores will be totaled for each part, converted to percentages, and averaged with the other panelists'/raters' scores. Parts I and II will be scored independently of each other by the department. Depending on the results, a candidate may:

1. Not receive any level at that time;

2. Receive a level for Interpreting (ASL) only;

3. Receive a level for Transliterating Sign Language only;

4. Receive a level for both Interpreting (ASL) and Transliterating Sign Language; or

5. Receive a level for Transliterating Cued Speech only.

D. Criteria for screening levels.

A screening level of I, II, III, or IV will be awarded to candidates who satisfy the minimum competency requirements. (Refer to 22VAC20-30-110 B Screening Components.) These minimum requirements are:

1. 90% Code of Ethics (Part I) and

2. Performance Scores (Part II Interpreting or Transliterating):

a. 95% - Level IV

b. 80% - Level III

c. 65% - Level II

d. 50% - Level I

E. The department will notify candidates in writing of the status of their screening results within 90 working days of the screening date.