Here at CASLI, we want to recognize and applaud the hard work of our exam candidates who are pursuing their certified Deaf interpreter or national interpreter certification through RID.  As you are aware, CASLI has been going through – and continues to go through – a lot of major changes and transitions. We were incredibly busy in 2019 and will continue to be busy this year as we continue to undergo two major transitions in the national interpreter certification exams. This email is to clarify for you and to provide updates on what’s been happening lately.

Two things:

  1. A transition in test delivery platform,
  2. An upcoming transition in iterations, or versions, of the exams themselves.

I. Test Delivery Transition:

How we administer our exams to our candidates is currently different for each exam. 

We currently administer three interpreter certifications exams. These are:

  1. The CDI-Knowledge Exam – This exam is currently administered through an exam booklet, an online video library, and using a scantron sheet and pencil. Presently, candidates can register and pay for the CDI-Knowledge exam through your RID Member Portal. Once all required documentation (audiogram and proof of prerequisite 40-hours of interpreter training) has been uploaded to your RID member portal, please email us a testing@CASLI.org to verify so you may purchase and arrange to take your CDI-Knowledge Exam. CDI-K Local Test Administrators: CDI-K LTAs are listed on our website here. If you live in an area where there are no local CDI-K LTAs or have issues contacting an LTA,  please reach out to us directly for help getting set up for your exam.
  1. The NIC-Knowledge Exam – We continue to contract with ScanTron (formerly Castle Worldwide, LLC). Candidates may register and pay for their NIC-Knowledge Exam through their account in RID Member Portal. Once the NIC-Knowledge exam is registered and purchased, candidates will receive an email from ScanTron within seven (7) business days outlining the next steps in taking the NIC-K. NIC-K Local Test Administrators: Test sites for the NIC-K are handled through ScanTron directly. Once you register and pay for your NIC-K exam, within 7 – 10 days, the candidate will receive a “Notice to Schedule Exam” email with instructions on how to schedule their NIC-K exam.  
  1. The NIC-Interview and Performance Exam – This exam is available to take and is being administered on our new testing platform: The CASLI Exam System (CES). Once candidates are eligible to take their NIC Interview and Performance Exam, they may create an account at https://CASLI.app. After the account is created, email us at Testing@CASLI.org to verify NIC IP exam eligibility and then an exam will be added in CES to register, pay for, and arrange exam appointments with a Local Test Administrator. Candidates no longer register and pay for their NIC IP exam through the RID member portal.  NIC-IP Local Test Administrators (LTA): CASLI contracts with LTA sites directly. Currently, we have a limited number of LTAs who are fully operational and administering the NIC IP exam for our candidates. From the CASLI.app account, you may click on “View Proctor Locations” and there is a map of Local Test Administrators (LTA) sites with three colors of pins. A green pin means the site is fully operational and has been greenlit to administer the exam. A yellow pin means the LTA site is in the quality assurance process and in the process of becoming “greenlit”. A red pin means the LTA site is in the beginning stage of the quality and assurance process.  CASLI will continue to work on implementing more LTA sites across the nation and getting more up and running in the near future so please check the map from time to time. 

NOTE: We no longer contract with PSI/Comira, our former testing company, for the NIC Interview & Performance exam. Candidates also no longer register and pay for their NIC IP exam through their RID member portal. Visit our new CASLI Exam System to create an account, register and pay for the NIC IP exam.

About Test Cycle Expirations: The NIC Interview & Performance exam began transitioning from our former test delivery company, PSI/Comira, to our new test delivery platform, CASLI Exam System, beginning June 1, 2019.  The time during this transition that a candidate was eligible to take the NIC IP but could not, will be added to the candidate’s testing cycle. In the fall of 2019, we announced  that the clock on the testing cycle would start when CASLI has 50 testing sites greenlit. However, if a candidate takes their NIC IP at an available LTA prior to this, their exam cycle will begin when they take their exam. Currently, we have not yet achieved 50 test sites nationally but will announce when we do. For more details, please see our recent CASLI update announcement.

II. Testing Development:

Testing Development is a long and complex process. CASLI has been developing the next version of the exams used for the National Interpreter Certification (NIC) and Certified Deaf Interpreter (CDI) since March of 2018. The new test designs will be different than the current exams. The names of the exams will also be different. In brief, the following exams that are in development and will be released shortly:

CASLI Generalist Knowledge Exam:

  • This exam will be for BOTH Deaf and Hearing interpreter candidates
  • The exam will be bilingual: presented half in text English and half in ASL.
  • Exams will include Multiple Choice Questions that will assess a candidate’s knowledge of the ASL-English Interpreting Profession and Case Studies that will assess a candidate’s cultural competency and ethical decision making abilities.
  • This exam will be released sometime in spring or early summer of 2020.
  • Currently the CDI-K and NIC-K are still being administered. When the new CASLI Generalist Knowledge Exam is released, both the CDI-K and NIC-K will be retired.

CASLI Generalist Performance Exams

  • These exams focus on the actual tasks involved in interpreting.
  • There will be two different performance exams: one for Deaf interpreters and one for hearing interpreters. 
  • There is no “interview” portion on these exams (as there is on the current NIC IP).
  • The anticipated release of these exams is spring or summer of 2020.
  • Currently the CDI-Performance is still under moratorium until the new Deaf Interpreter Performance Exam is released.
  • Currently the NIC Interview and Performance Exam is still being administered through CASLI Exam System until the new Hearing Interpreter Performance Exam is released.

“Gap Tests”

A Gap Test is a way that candidates can transition between the current exam iteration and the new exam. It covers the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) between exam iterations for the purpose of maintaining psychometric validity between iterations. The Gap Tests are for candidates who have passed the CURRENT CDI-Knowledge or NIC-Knowledge exam and are taking the NEW CASLI Generalist Performance Exams. These gap tests will be offered along with the new CASLI performance exam on the CASLI Exam System and will be free of charge.

The Gap test for Deaf Interpreter Candidates will include:

  1. Working with interpreters who use languages other than ASL and English,
  2. Occupational hazard and safety (OHSA) standards and use of protective gear during interpreting that does not hinder communications (e.g. surgical masks)
  3. Mandated reporting laws related to abuse or suicide, 

The Gap Test for Hearing interpreter Candidates will include:

  1. Cultural competence
  2. Ethical decision-making

Again, this “Gap Test” will be free of charge and offered along with the new CASLI Generalist performance exams. These “Gap Tests” are computer-based, selected response exams and will be automatically scored on the computer within the CASLI Exam System.

See this presentation at RID’s Biennial conference for more details/information on the new CASLI Generalist exams.

We hope this has helped in providing clarification on what we have been working on. For any further questions, please contact us at testing@CASLI.org or call 571-257-4761. Or visit our FaceBook page, or read our latest updates in RID’s Views and eNews issues. We thank you for your patience and understanding while we work through all of the changes in the upcoming year.  

Warmly,

The CASLI Team