33-1303 DEFINITIONS.

TITLE 33

EDUCATION

CHAPTER 13

EDUCATIONAL INTERPRETERS

33-1303. Definitions. The following words and phrases used in this chapter are defined as follows:

(1) "Board" means the state board of education.

(2) "Bureau" means the Idaho bureau of educational services for the deaf and the blind.

(3) "Deaf" means a person who is not able to process information aurally and whose primary means of communication is visual.

(4) "Deaf-blind" means a person who is deaf or hard of hearing and who also has significant visual impairment or is legally blind.

(5) "Educational interpreter" means a person employed in the Idaho public schools, kindergarten through grade twelve (12), to provide interpreting services to students who are deaf, hard of hearing or deaf-blind.

(6) "Educational interpreter performance assessment" means a statistically valid and reliable assessment tool administered by the boys town national research hospital or its successor organization.

(7) "Hard of hearing" means a person who has a hearing deficit, who is able to process information aurally with or without the use of a hearing aid or other device that enhances the ability of the person to hear, and whose primary means of communication may be visual.

(8) "Interpreter education program" means a postsecondary degree program of at least two (2) years in duration that is accredited by the state board of education or an equivalent program accredited by another state, district or territory or by a professional accreditation body.

(9) "Interpreting" means the process of providing accessible communication between and among persons who are deaf, hard of hearing or deaf-blind, and those who are hearing. The process includes, but is not limited to, communication between American sign language or other form of manual communication and English. The process may also involve various other modalities that involve visual, gestural and tactile methods.