An Activity in the School Interpreting Series
The School Interpreting Series (2026) was a 16-credit-hour, six-course series focused on the interpreting specialization for K-12 schools within the ASL-English Interpretation BA program at the University of Northern Colorado.
The School Interpreting Series acknowledges that school interpreters work within complex educational systems shaped by evolving policies, instructional practices, and student needs. Understanding current educational issues helps school interpreters participate effectively within these systems, support equitable access for Deaf and hard of hearing students, and make informed, ethical decisions that align with instructional goals. Interpreting practice does not exist in isolation; it is deeply shaped by both historical and current educational contexts.
To this end, Newsfeeds were a major activity of the School Interpreting Series. This page consolidates the School Interpreting Series curriculum to highlight one approach to instilling within school interpreters the knowledge and skills associated with current educational issues.
Overview
Current educational issues were presented in the course content and materials throughout the School Interpreting Series. Students engaged with various current educational issues by crafting newsfeeds to demonstrate their knowledge of these issues and explore the issues' intersection with school interpreting and the educational team.
Current educational issues included topics like:
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Federal legislation, such as IDEA and the Deaf Child's Bill of Rights
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State standards for K-12 school interpreting
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Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion, such as neurodiversity, Deaf Plus, stem cells and Deafness, Person-First vs. Identity-First Language, and the power and privilege of school interpreters
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Childhood development, such as Theory of Mind and language/information deprivation
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Student engagement
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2023 Supreme Court Case Perez v Sturgis
Learning Scaffolding & Objectives
Learning was intentionally scaffolded across the School Interpreting Series through introduction (I), reinforcement (R), mastery in applied contexts (M), and structured assessments (A), creating clear learning pathways from program-level competencies to course-level objectives, assignments, and activities.
The Newsfeed learning sequence aligns to the program-level competency SIS C9: Current Educational Issues.
SIS C9. Cultivate an understanding of current educational issues that continually elevate the current practices, interactions, and contributions of a school interpreter as a Related Service Provider on the educational team and within the educational system. (Knowledge & Skill)
Interpreting students developed SIS C9: Current Educational Issues through the following course-level objectives, scaffolded across the School Interpreting Series.
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Document current educational issues through a broader systems lens and how they impact various professionals, students, and their families in education.
I - Introduction to School Interpreting
R - Systems and Structures for School Interpreting
R/M - An Interdisciplinary Approach to School Interpreting I & Childhood Development for School Interpreting
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Describe how a school interpreter contributes to the educational team and system because of knowledge of current educational issues.
M - An Interdisciplinary Approach to School Interpreting I & Childhood Development for School Interpreting
A -Program to Practice for School Interpreting
Insights
Newsfeeds are concise, accessible explorations of current educational issues that invite engagement with the systems, policies, and practices shaping today's school. Through the Newsfeed learning sequence, students synthesize information from multiple perspectives, recognizing that educational issues involve competing needs, affect diverse stakeholders, and extend beyond a strictly interpretive lens when examined through a broader systems lens.
Newsfeeds emphasizes both the issue itself and the professional perspective of the school interpreter as a Related Service Provider within the educational system. School interpreters consider how current educational issues inform and elevate their practices, interactions, and contributions on educational teams.
By supporting shared understanding across professionals, Deaf and hard of hearing students, and families, Newsfeeds highlight the interconnected nature of educational systems and promote collaboration - central to the knowledge and skills reflected in SIS C9: Current Educational Issues.
Approaches to Activity (including Rubrics)
The Newsfeed learning sequence was intentionally multimodal, with language use scaffolded from written English to spoken English and then ASL. As familiarity with the activity increased, students were encouraged to select the communication mode best suited to the issue and relevant educational stakeholders.
Newsfeeds were intentionally brief and followed a consistent structure: a headline, focused content (approximately 2–3 paragraphs or 2–3 minutes, depending on language use), a written notes section identifying used resources, and a written recommendation section encouraging further exploration. This consistency supported deeper engagement with the content, while the activity's reflective nature was guided by the 5R Framework.
Composition of a Newsfeed
A Newsfeed presents a current educational issue through a reflective, systems-oriented lens, guided by the 5R Framework.
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Identify the issue by naming the current educational concern and outlining its key elements. (Report)
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Illustrate the issue with examples and connect it to broader educational experiences. (Relate)
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Examine the issue through the lens of the school interpreter's roles, responding to key elements from the interpreter's perspective and connecting them to professional frameworks and interpreting practice. (Respond & Relate)
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Analyze system-wide impact by exploring how the issue affects educational teams, drawing on relevant theories, K-12 practices, and professional roles across education, and considering implications for future practice and collaboration. (Reason & Reconstruct)
School Interpreting Websites were created by Preparing School Interpreters (PSI) Scholars as part of a capstone project across the School Interpreting Series. Two websites are shared as examples of student work and are used with the creators' permission.
To support increasingly complex engagement with educational issues, the learning experiences leading into the Newsfeed were intentionally layered. Colleague discussion and an AI-supported protocol expanded perspective-taking and systems-level analysis.
Colleague Discussion (with Student-to-Student Sharing)
To deepen engagement and perspective-taking around complex educational issues, the Newsfeed was preceded by a structured student-to-student sharing and colleague discussion. Using a student-to-student sharing approach, students identified resources representing diverse educational stakeholder perspectives on the selected issue (e.g., stem cells and deafness). Students then reviewed and self-selected a small set of resources that included perspectives different from their own and from the interpreting field. These resources were shared with colleagues in advance, establishing a common foundation for one-on-one discussions.
Using a guided discussion protocol, students and colleagues moved from summarizing the authors' perspectives to considering the personal and professional viewpoints and examining why the issue matters for education, educational teams, and school interpreters. Students created brief discussion outlines that captured key ideas to share with each other, supporting reflection and subsequent Newsfeed development. Collegial discussion and student-to-student sharing surfaced strengths, challenges, and questions that expanded the students' systems-level analysis.
AI-Supported Inquiry
To deepen systems-level understanding of complex educational issues, including court decisions such as the 2023 Supreme Court Case Perez v. Sturgis, an AI-supported approach was used as a preparatory learning activity for a Newsfeed. Students engaged with AI as a thinking partner to explore the legal, educational, and professional dimensions of a selected issue and used structured prompts to examine how policies, court decisions, and stakeholder perspectives intersect within educational systems.
Rather than generating content, AI was used to support inquiry - helping students clarify concepts, surface connections across systems, and organize emerging questions. Through guided protocols, students documented their interactions with AI, reflected on how information was framed, and identified salient questions and insights to inform subsequent Newsfeed development.
This approach positioned AI as a collaborative learning tool within a community of inquiry, expanding perspective-taking and analytical depth while preserving the Newsfeed as an original, human-authored product.
Materials
The materials listed below are a sample of resources used in the School Interpreting Series to explore current educational issues. This list is intended to illustrate the range of issues and perspectives found throughout the curriculum.
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Dunn, L. M. & Anderson, G. B. (2020). Examining the intersectionality of deaf identity, race/ethnicity, and diversity through a Black Deaf lens. In I. W. Leigh & C. A. O’Brien (Eds.), Deaf identities: Exploring new frontiers (pp. 279-304). Oxford University Press.
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Girardin, E. (2022). Critical analysis of person-first language and identity-first language: A research summary and analysis for interpreting students. Unpublished manuscript.
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Hackett, D. T. (2020). Looking through the kaleidoscope: A metaphor for convergences of identities. In I. W. Leigh & C. A. O’Brien (Eds.), Deaf identities: Exploring new frontiers (pp. 370-394). Oxford University Press.
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Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. (2025). Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [website]. https://sites.ed.gov/idea/
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Johnson, L., Taylor, M.M., Schick, B., Brown, S., Bolster, L., & Girardin, E. (2023). Complexities in educational interpreting: A pattern of practice investigation (2nd Edition). Edmonton, Alberta: Interpreting Consolidated.
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Luna Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools et al., 21-887 (2023).
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Marschark, M., Spencer, P.E., Adams, J., & Sapere, P. (February 2011) Evidenced-based practice in educating deaf and hard-of hearing children: Teaching to their cognitive strengths and needs. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 26(1), 3-16.
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National Association of the Deaf. (2023). Bill of rights for deaf and hard of hearing children. https://www.nad.org/resources/education/bill-of-rights-for-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-children/
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Paddy, L. (2022) Seeing through new eyes, deaf cultures and deaf pedagogies: The unrecognized curriculum. Dawn Sign Press.
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Putz, K. (n.d.). Spotlight on stem cell research: Mixed feelings. Hands & Voices. https://handsandvoices.org/articles/research/v15-3_stemcells.htm
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RID. (2023, June 27). RID/NAIE joint position statement on Perez v. Sturgis County Schools System [Video]. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZVLWfYH5dM
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Schick, B. (2020). Social cognition and theory of mind. https://www.handsandvoices.org/comcon/articles/socCogTheorMind.htm
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The Daily Moth. (2023, January 23). Supreme Court hears arguments on case involving deaf student [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDsEyaGZw98
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U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services. (2010). Thirty-five years of progress in educating children with disabilities through IDEA. Washington, D.C.
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