Gain Valuable Skills. Help Non-English Speakers Navigate School Systems.

Every school system in America needs interpreters to facilitate communication between non-English-speaking parents of students and school system personnel. However, few educational institutions offer any formal training for this vital profession. To help fill this training void, the University of Georgia has developed this online course with one of the top educational interpreters and trainers in the field.

The Professional Interpreter in Education Certificate program is a one-of-a-kind, highly acclaimed course that will increase your professional knowledge, enhance your career path, and prepare you to better serve non-English-speaking students and their families in your school district. You will leave with a better understanding of the professional protocols for interpreting and the resources and support network you need to help your career flourish in the future.

Snapshot

Format: Online

Hours: 30

Credits: 3.0 CEUs

When: Jul. 28 - Sep. 15

Cost: $849

Register Now

 

  • The roles of school system personnel and the policies
  • Educational terminology
  • The difference between interpreting and translating
  • Procedures that educational interpreters must follow
  • How to apply the Interpreter’s Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics to real-life scenarios you may encounter
  • Roles of interpreters when working with special student populations and their families (such as preschool children, at-risk students, students with disabilities, and Special Education students)
  • How to use consecutive, simultaneous, sight translation and summarization translation modes

Module 1: Introduction to Terminology for the Professional Interpreter in Education

  • Recognize the essential work of professional interpreters in education
  • Identify the impact of communication on family engagement
  • Understand the importance of interpreter training
  • Review the difference between an interpreter and a translator
  • Know the difference between a certificate and a national certification process

Module 2: Language Access Legislation, School Organization and Important Policies

  • Describe and understand the background of language access in the educational setting
  • Recognize the specific roles of school system personnel and the policies and procedures that educational interpreter must follow

Module 3: Interpreter Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics

  • Demonstrate knowledge of the interpreter’s Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics
  • Discuss and define the appropriate application of the Code of Ethics to case scenarios

Module 4: Common Types of Meetings in Education

  • Compare and contrast the various types of meetings where interpreters build and strengthen connections between families and educators
  • Expand your glossaries to include common terminology that interpreters will hear during these meetings

Module 5: Interpreter Roles, Responsibilities and Modes

  • Compare and contrast the consecutive, simultaneous, and sight translation modes
  • Identify the roles of the interpreter and situations when each role comes into place
  • Recognize the responsibilities of a professional interpreter in education

Module 6: Disciplinary Hearings and Special Education Overview

  • Understand procedures related to discipline and special education
  • Define the components of an Eligibility and Individualized Education Plan.
  • Define the role of the interpreter when collaborating during disciplinary hearings and special education sessions.
  • Analyze the interpreter’s role and mode of interpretation during meetings with legal terminology

Module 7: Interpreter Tools: Note-Taking, Memory Skills and Meeting Management Strategies

  • Understand the basics of note-taking and its value to improve consecutive interpretation
  • Use strategies to increase memory capacity and apply them to consecutive interpretation exercises
  • Identify ways to manage the flow of communication during a meeting and use effective intervention phrases when needed

Module 8: Course Wrap-Up, Post-Test, Final and PD Plan

  • Expand your resources and continue exploring ways to build your skills as a professional interpreter in education
  • Create a professional development action plan
  • Review your knowledge of interpretation in the school setting and assess you learning throughout the course

Who Should Attend?

Individuals who are bilingual and fall into the following categories:

  • Teachers, staff, administrators of public, private or charter schools, and other education institutions
  • Individuals who work with teachers, staff and administrators of public, private or charter schools and other institutions
  • Interpreters and translators currently employed in educational institutions
  • Independent interpreters
  • Interpreters with other interpreting credentials, such as those who have completed the Spanish/English Medical Interpreter Certificate Program or the Spanish/English Legal Interpreter Certificate Program.
  • Individuals seeking employment in educational organizations
  • Individual seeking their first professional interpreting certificate

Course Information

Course Number: 

0613-017

Course Date: 
Monday, July 28, 2025 to Monday, September 15, 2025
Course Date Info: 

Live online classroom sessions with the instructor will be held on the following Wednesday evenings from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. ET.:

  • July 30
  • August 13
  • August 27
  • September 10

To complete the course, students must attend all of the live online class sessions. Recordings of classes are available for continued learning, but do not replace attendance.

Course format: 

Online, cohort-based, with asynchronous activities and live online classes.

Course Fee(s): 

$849

Ana Soler, the course author and instructor, is the Chairperson of the National Association of Educational Translators and Interpreters of Spoken Languages (NAETISL) and Founder of SeSo, Inc., a source of qualified and trained interpreters and multicultural family engagement workshops. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Social Work at Georgia State University, her master’s degree in Public Health at Emory University, and is a Ph.D. in Special Education student at the University of Georgia. For over a decade, Ana worked with the largest school district in Georgia as the Language Services and Parent Outreach Coordinator, developing, implementing, and evaluating professional development opportunities for multilingual personnel and supporting schools with interpreter/translator quality assurance.

While working as a Multicultural Program Coordinator for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Ana assisted with the creation of the hospital's interpretation and translation department. She also coordinated interpreter training for bilingual staff, oversaw cultural competency training for physicians and staff, and provided medical translation quality assurance and guidelines. Ana has authored interpreter training curricula nationally, including the Intercultural Parent and Youth Leadership Program, the Interpretation Academy for Bilingual High School Students, the Arkansas Interpreter in Education Credential Training, a 40-hour course for medical interpreters, and other online courses for the University of Georgia, including the Professional Interpreter in Education Certificate course and the Professional Interpreter in Special Education Certificate course. She remains an active medical and educational interpreter and translator.