Language Access Policy

The Office of Language Access is responsible for spearheading all efforts related to language access at the DOE. It operates within the Division of Family and Community Engagement and External Affairs to ensure that language access is a key consideration in all parental engagement initiatives and communications. The Office of Language Access:

• Oversees and monitors the DOE’s provision of language assistance services to LEP parents.
• Works closely with schools to ensure that the DOE’s translation and interpretation services support the needs of the LEP parent population.
• Serves as primary contact for schools for ongoing guidance and support.
• Provides input regarding appropriate budget allocations for translation and interpretation services, and monitors and evaluates how schools use translation and interpretation funds.
• Develops and provides training to relevant school staff.
• Develops and provides Language Access Kits to schools. Kits include a multilingual welcome poster, a Language Identification Guide to help determine the language spoken by a parent, and sample I Speak Card for parents, among other resources.
• Maintains outside language services vendor contracts.

IV. Service Provision Plan

A. Interpretation

Chancellor’s Regulation A-663 requires that the DOE provide interpretation services, either at the school/office where the parent is seeking assistance or by telephone, to the maximum extent practicable, during regular business hours to parents whose primary language is a covered language and who request such services in order to communicate with the DOE regarding critical information about their child’s education.

Over-the-phone interpretation services are available, via a contracted vendor, to all schools and offices during regular business hours in over 250 languages. Language identification is done by either:

• A DOE staff person identifying the language
• The limited English proficient parent identifying their language from a Language Identification Card
• The vendor identifying the language with the use of specialized linguists over the phone
• Interpretation services also must be provided at the following citywide meetings:
  • Panel for Educational Policy meetings
  • Citywide ELL parent meetings
  • Citywide/Community Education Council meetings
  • Other citywide parent meetings organized by central offices

These events are conducted throughout the city and are typically covered with interpreters from a contracted vendor. Languages to be provided are pre-identified by either:

• Analyzing Home Language Identification data or census data for the location of the event
• Responding to specific language requests made by expected attendees or the organizers of the event
• Analyzing data from previous events held at the location

B. Translation

Chancellor’s Regulation A-663 requires that documents produced by central DOE offices and schools which contain critical information regarding a child’s education must be translated into the covered languages.

Documents containing critical information that are translated include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

• Registration, application and selection
• Standards and performance
• Conduct and discipline
• Safety and health
• Special education and related services
• Entitlement to public education or placement in any special education, English language learner or non-standard academic program
• Transfer and discharge
• Legal or disciplinary matters

The Office of Language Access is responsible for translating the majority of these documents into the covered languages. Translations into non-covered languages are obtained from qualified contracted vendors.

Most of the translation work produced by the Office of Language Access is translated by DOE employed translators and go through a quality control review before being finalized. DOE translators are aided by translation tools, such as translation memory software, bilingual glossaries of DOE terminology, and foreign-language style guides.

V. Outreach

The Office of Language Access distributes multilingual posters to all DOE public schools and district offices throughout the city at the beginning of each school year. Schools are required to post these posters in a highly visible location. These posters provide LEP parents instruction on where and how to obtain interpretation services. The Office of Language Access also makes available, on its website for DOE employees, additional multilingual signage (including directional signs) that schools and offices can download, print and post.

Parents can obtain more information by visiting the DOE's Hello page.

VI. Training

The training module includes information on:

• The school’s role in facilitating the provision of language access services
• Accessing translation and over-the-phone interpretation services from the Office of Language Access
• Obtaining translated signs for posting and Language Identification Cards for identifying parent’s primary language
• Resources and support available from the Office of Language Access
• Accessing school translation and interpretation funds, and options for using these funds

VII. Monitoring

Ensuring the quality of our language services is critical to communicating effectively with our LEP parents. The Office of Language Access works in collaboration with other DOE offices to roll-out the following evaluation mechanisms to ensure the successful implementation of its language access initiatives:

• Principal Satisfaction Survey – Survey distributed to all school principals to assess the central supports provided to schools, including the provision of language services by the Office of Language Access and external language service providers.
• Translation and Interpretation Feedback Form – Form available on the DOE’s Hello page for providing feedback on the DOE’s language services.
• School Survey for Parents – Survey made available to all school-aged parents to assess their child’s school, including whether or not the school is communicating with the parent in their native language.

In addition, the Office of Language Access maintains records of all service requests received, by the Office of Language Access or contracted vendor(s), for written translation services, on-site interpretation services, and over-the-phone interpretation services from all DOE schools and offices.