Image Description: Title slide contains the red and black CASLI Logo. Underneath the log the text says: Star G. Grieser Director of Testing. Updates – February 27, 2019”. White woman with short brown hair and dark blue shirt signing in front of white background.
Hello, my name is Star Grieser and I am the Director of Testing for the Center for the Assessment of Sign Language Interpretation. As you are aware, CASLI’s primary charges are the national administration of the current exams used for certification purposes, the CDI Knowledge, the NIC Knowledge, and the NIC Interview and Performance exams, as well as the development of the next iteration of the exams used for certification purposes.
Many of you are wondering where we are with exam development, so we want to provide some updates and communicate with you about what we expect in the near future for test development.
This past fall, our Testing Committee along with some additional Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) convened in Washington, DC to develop the content for the new interpreter knowledge exam. They worked on writing and signing the items that will be in the exam. The knowledge exam will have three parts: knowledge of the ASL-English Interpreting profession, knowledge of the Code of Professional Conduct, and knowledge of Cultural Competency. Also, this new knowledge exam will be administered to both Deaf interpreters and hearing interpreters. This also means that the content itself will be presented in both American Sign Language and written English. A successful candidate will be able to comprehend both ASL and written English.
This month, the Testing Committee along with additional SMEs will convene again for a review of the content: ensuring all exam content developed by the previous committee matches the Interpreter Job Task Analyses. Once this step is completed, we will convene again in April to work on both the Deaf interpreter performance exam and the hearing interpreter performance exam. After the content is developed and finalized, we will begin filming for the video portion of the exam. I have been in contact with several Deaf-owned film/video companies to gauge interest in this project. If you are aware of any Deaf-owned film/video companies, please send me their contact information and I will reach out to them to see if they’re a good fit for this project.
After the content of the exam is developed and the video portion is filmed, the next step is to have beta testing and pilot testing of the exams – both the knowledge and performance exams. Beta testing will ensure the quality of the exams and once we conclude this phase, the exam will be ready for general release. Our goal is to release the exam on our target date – January 1, 2020 – in accordance with our exam development schedule.
Regarding the administration of the current CDI Knowledge, NIC Knowledge, and NIC Interview and Performance exam, we continue to provide this service. Regarding the NIC Interview and Performance exam, we have a contract with a test delivery company, PSI. We are aware of the some of the challenges that candidates experience at PSI’s test sites. We want you to know that the Board of Managers of CASLI see your concerns and comments and we are exploring improved approaches to exam administration and delivery.
I am sure many of you have questions or concerns that you want to discuss with me. I am available to you – you may contact me anytime at my email address, Director@CASLI.org, my VP number, 703-988-4543, or my FaceTime handle, SGrieser@CASLI.org. Also, I will be at the Deaf Interpreter Conference III this summer, June 25th to 29th at WOU in Monmouth, Oregon. Please feel free to come up and discuss your questions and concerns with me. I will also be at the RID conference in Providence, RI, July 7th to 11th and will be available to talk with you there, as well.
Thank you so much for your time.
Image Description: Concluding slide contains the red and black CASLI Logo. Underneath the logo, the text says: Star G. Grieser Director of Testing. Director@CASLI.org, VP/VRS: 703-988-4543, FaceTime: SGrieser@CASLI.org. CASLI.org.