Educational Sign Skills Evaluation (ESSE)

Are You Ready For Certification?

• The ESSE Process Webinar is a 60-minute online class for interpreters who have never taken the Educational Sign Skills Evaluation (ESSE). It provides an overview of what to expect on the exam.
• The Fine Tune Your Interpreting Skills Workshop is 6 hours of in-person training for interpreters who have already taken the ESSE. This workshop includes a discussion of the ESSE rubric and has activities designed to develop and enhance your sign vocabulary, finger-spelling, and overall interpreting skills.

Time Investment

The ESSE consists of 1 Expressive and 1 Receptive Test. Plan to spend around 6 hours total taking both the Expressive and Receptive tests on the same day.

• It takes approximately 45 minutes for the Expressive testing (individual administration)
• It takes approximately 2.5 hours for the Receptive test (group administration)

Cost

ESSE: I (Interpreter)

The ESSE: I consists of videotaped samples of actual classroom teachers which an educational interpreter is asked to interpret as s/he would to students. The interpreter is given a choice of elementary school, middle school, or high school classes. Once the school level is established, a warm-up tape is shown of similar classes. At the end of the warm-up tape, thirty seconds of each of the actual classroom teachers that will be interpreted will be shown. Therefore, the individual will know what subjects they will be interpreting and have brief exposure to the teacher's style. The individual can warm up until s/he feels they are ready to be videotaped. The interpreter is videotaped while interpreting three classes, in different subject areas and with different teachers. Each session is approximately 5 minutes in length. This videotape of the interpreter is viewed by a trained panel of five members (consisting of both hearing and deaf) familiar with a variety of signing styles and with the education of the K-12 levels. Each of the five panelists completes a rating form with ratings from 1 (low) to 5 (high) for five separate areas: signs, finger-spelling, expressiveness, speech reading, and an overall rating. In addition, checklists provide specific information on a number of components in each area and on technical factors such as dress, grooming, indicating speakers, eye contact, etc. The ratings of the five panelists are combined for an average rating in each of the five areas plus the receptive score of the dominant style of the individual. Also included are the pooled panelists' comments and feedback on each component.

ESSE: T (Teacher)

The ESSE: T is designed for teachers, aides, or others wishing information on their expressive signing skills when signing for themselves. A 60-word screening test establishes the vocabulary level at basic, intermediate, or advanced levels. The individual is then presented with 20 to 25 test sentences constructed with vocabulary at that level or below and including specific visual features such as negation, question marking, directionality, or placement. These sentences are presented on a slide deck, and the individual is videotaped while signing them. The individual is then given a choice of topics appropriate to the school level at which s/he works, time to organize ideas, and then an impromptu presentation on that topic is taped for approximately three minutes. This videotaped sample of signing skills is then rated by the trained panel of five members (which consists of both hearing and deaf), similar to the rating for interpreters described above. In this way, both a vocabulary sample and a more free-flowing, normal signing sample are obtained.

ESSE: R (Receptive)

The Receptive Skills Evaluation will measure understanding of 3 types of signing: Pidgin Signed English (PSE), Signing Exact English (SEE), and American Sign Language (ASL).

Each signing type will then present 3 vocabulary levels: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. Each level signs two warm-up sentences and ten test sentences in each type of signing. Three deaf high school students are the signers. The same student signs each type (PSE, SEE, ASL) for all 3 (Basic, Int, Adv) vocabulary levels.

The Receptive results will show 2 scores for each level. The first score indicates the percentage of signs that were correct. The second score indicates the percentage of how well the entire sentence was understood. The sentences are scored on an all-or-nothing basis for each sentence. Sometimes individual signs missed did not affect the ability to understand the concept of the sentence. Other times, missing one key word meant missing the overall meaning of the sentence.

You only need to be proficient in 1 of the 3 signing types but if you are proficient in more than 1 signing mode, the additional modes will also be posted on your ESSE Certificate.

The Receptive Evaluation takes approximately 2.5 hours which includes break times between each level of the exam.

Upcoming Dates

ESSE assessments are scheduled throughout the year, usually in Irvine (Southern CA) and occasionally in San Jose CA (Northern & Central CA). They may also be given in Wichita, KS, Omaha, NE, Texas, and other locations by appointment only.

Testing Information

ESSE Evaluations are typically scheduled about every 3 months. This time is used to compile the results of the 5 evaluators and return the results to the test takers. The interpreters can then review their evaluation scores and the detailed analysis to focus on improving the areas recommended in the evaluation feedback.

Evaluations are typically held at local schools and last from 9 am until 4:00 pm. The exact locations and scheduled times are sent to the Registered applicants the week of the assessment.

Schools Districts requesting assessments for 10 or more interpreters can negotiate special dates with the SEE Center.

Subscribe to the SEE Center listserve to be automatically notified via email when we schedule a new ESSE Evaluation. Applicants can then Register for the date and location they want to attend.

ESSE Results

Individuals can expect to receive an extensive detailed 8 to 10-page report in the mail in approximately 90 days. A SEE Center Certificate is also issued when Expressive scores are 2.0 or greater, and it indicates when the Evaluation was taken and the Evaluation Results. Special Arrangements

Understanding Your ESSE Test Results

The ESSE Evaluation Results will show a score for each of the Expressive Test and the Receptive Test. A passing score of 4.0 and above is required in both sections in order to meet the requirement for CA Dept. of Education State Certification.

If you receive a level 4.0 or greater on only 1 section, you can retake the section under 4.0 at a future date. No wait time is required. You do not need to retake the portion passed with 4.0 or higher.

Scoring Rubric: Interpreter Accuracy