Language Facilitator (308087C) bei Moore County Schools

Reports to: Director for Exceptional Children

Supervises: None

Term of Employment: 10 months

Salary: Certified Teacher Scale, if licensed

Educational Interpreter I-62, if classified

Language Facilitator-58, if classified 

Non-interpreter

FLSA Exempt/Non-Exempt: May be exempt or non-exempt 

based on placement on the salary schedule

Qualifications:

• Associate degree required and additional education preferred
• Experience working with Deaf and Hard of Hearing (D/HH) students with varying communication needs within the public school setting preferred
• Specialized training or the willingness to participate in training in the use of assistive devices, amplification, and spoken language facilitation techniques
• Working knowledge of typical language and auditory development
• Understanding of the potential impact of hearing loss on communication, development, and learning, particularly in the areas of language and literacy
• Knowledge of current federal and state legal mandates related to students with hearing loss, particularly procedural policies and confidentiality requirements
• Skills in the communication modes used by the deaf or hard of hearing students with whom s/he would be working, and appropriate strategies to facilitate understanding of auditory communication
• Ability to communicate effectively in oral and written forms, with competence in English grammar and mechanics (spelling, capitalization, and punctuation) and strong interpersonal skills
• Desire to continue development of knowledge, skills, and abilities in the field, and the completion of appropriate staff development training to attain further knowledge, skills, and abilities, including the completion of Individual Growth Plans as appropriate
• General background in liberal arts, science, and math to allow understanding of content in K-12 curriculum areas
• Ability to work with students of varying maturational, communicative, cognitive, and functional educational levels

Essential Job Functions: 

• Facilitates spoken language development and communication between Deaf and Hard of Hearing (D/HH) students and classroom teachers, administrators, peers, and other school staff.
• Monitors D/HH students' understanding of all auditory information within the educational setting and facilitates spoken language communication between D/HH students and general education teachers, students, and other school staff as appropriate in the student's preferred communication modes (providing acoustic highlighting, visual aids, cuing, etc).
• Previews classroom setting (including lighting, placement, availability of captioning, etc) and modifies physical environment as needed to ensure the provision of equal access to visual and auditory information for D/HH students.
• Previews instructional lessons and materials to ensure accurate facilitation of instructional content.
• Collaborates with the teacher of the D/HH and other school staff to ensure the needs of students are met, and serves as a liaison within the school environment, promoting positive and cooperative relationships.
• Monitors student comprehension and provides instructional reinforcement as needed, under the direction of the Teacher of the D/HH. Introduces and explains vocabulary, repeats and reinforces classroom instruction, fosters appropriate classroom communication strategies and student self advocacy skills, coordinates the provision of lecture notes, and performs other tasks as appropriate to ensure D/HH students have equal access to auditory information in the regular education classroom, under the direction of the teacher of the D/ HH, and in accordance with student IEPs. The spoken language facilitator is not a teacher, nor is s/he a teacher assistant for the regular classroom teacher.
• Assists in monitoring of amplification and/or IEP progress as appropriate, documenting progress and concerns through logs, as determined by the educational team.
• Gradually leads student toward more independence, assuming responsibility for his/her own education and communicative competence. Expectations for spoken language facilitators at the primary level are more comprehensive than at the intermediate level, with the goal of gradually phasing out the service to an individual student as appropriate.
• Serves as a member of the educational team involved with particular D/HH students and participates as appropriate in the Individual Education Program (IEP) process, in-servicing and consulting with regular education staff and students regarding spoken language facilitation service, teaming with appropriate teachers and staff, and providing direct spoken language facilitation service to learners.
• Attends state, district, and building-level workshops, in-service training, and staff meetings.
• Follows all school policies as stated in individual school handbooks and performs other duties required of all building staff as directed by the building principal to promote the safety and welfare of all students in the school, as long as duties do not interfere with the primary role of facilitating spoken language communication for D/HH students.
• Demonstrates professionalism, applying the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) Code of Professional Conduct to the educational setting as appropriate.
• Assists teachers and administration with duties that contribute to the enhancement of the classroom environment while not interfering with the primary duty of spoken language facilitation (such as clerical tasks).
• Performs other duties and responsibilities as assigned by supervisor.

Physical and Cognitive Requirements: 

The major physical and cognitive requirements listed below are applicable to this job classification within Moore County Schools.

Work in this classification is considered light physical work requiring the exertion of up to 20 pounds of force occasionally and a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to move objects.

Must be able to:

• walk, lift, reach, stoop, stand, grasp, kneel, crouch, key requiring repetitive motions
• use visual acuity in preparing and analyzing written or computer data
• operate a variety of machines, motor vehicles, and job specific equipment and tools
• determine the accuracy and thoroughness of work
• observe general surroundings and activities
• hear sufficiently to accurately perceive information at normally spoken word levels, receive detailed information through oral communications and make fine distinctions in sound
• communicate by spoken word to express or exchange ideas and convey detailed or important instructions to others accurately, loudly, or quickly
• safely work in situations of exposure to blood borne pathogens which may require specialized personal protective equipment
• communicate effectively orally and in writing
• establish positive relationships with students
• demonstrate a thorough knowledge of deaf culture, history, audio-logical issues and all aspects of deafness as it relates to the individual students needs and its effect on people
• utilize methods such as; transliteration, American Sign Language, Cued Speech, Signing Exact English, or other valid techniques needed in facilitating the communication process in an educational setting
• demonstrate knowledge of correct English usage, spelling, grammar and punctuation
• demonstrate working knowledge of language levels of different age groups
• demonstrate working knowledge of effective ways of dealing with children
• demonstrate working knowledge of subjects taught
• demonstrate working knowledge of the nature of deafness and its effect on language development
• demonstrate skill in expressive transliterating and interpreting at a rate commensurate with conversational and lecture speech
• demonstrate skill in reverse transliterating and interpreting
• maintain a working knowledge of the Registry of the Interpreters for the Deaf Code of Ethics as it applies to the educational setting
• demonstrate a thorough understanding of the Code of Ethics that is set up for interpreter to follow according to Registry of Interpreters for the dear (RID)