David Ward, speech-language pathologist
Browse open K-12 educational interpreter jobs in Minnesota and learn the state certification law, mentoring rules, and pay data for school interpreters.
Minnesota Statutes 122A.31
Minnesota puts its school interpreter standard in statute. Under section 122A.31, anyone a district employs to provide ASL/English interpreting or sign transliterating must meet one of two tests:
- hold RID interpreter or transliterator certificates, the National Association of the Deaf general level certificate, or comparable state certification from the education commissioner, and complete an interpreter training program affiliated with an accredited institution
- hold RID's Certified Deaf Interpreter credential
Paragraph (e) limits district hiring to interpreters who meet that test, hold a provisional certificate, or have an approved extension.
BrightWorks, which hosts the state's low incidence projects, translates the law into hiring terms on its educational ASL interpreters page. You need RID certification, or an EIPA score of 4.0 or higher plus a passing EIPA written test. Your training program can be shorter than a four-year degree. BrightWorks adds that Minnesota does not accept BEI certification for educational ASL interpreters.
The provisional path
New graduates of an affiliated training program receive a two-year provisional certificate from the commissioner. Deaf interpreters qualify for one after 40 hours of RID-approved continuing education. You then build an education plan with a mentor who holds NAD level IV or V or RID's CI and CT and has three years of educational interpreting experience. The plan includes weekly on-site mentoring.
A provisional certificate holder may apply once for a time-limited extension. The application needs letters from your mentor, a parent of a student you serve, your special education director, and a regional service center representative.
Oral and cued speech transliterators fall under a separate subdivision. A district can obtain a nonrenewable two-year certificate for a new transliterator, who then works under a licensed teacher skilled in DHH language development and enrolls in a state-approved training program.
Employers
The state runs the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf in Faribault, an ASL/English bilingual school serving students from birth through age 22. The academies process every application through the State of Minnesota Careers Portal, as their employment page explains. Search "Minnesota State Academies" there. For district hiring, BrightWorks keeps separate resource pages for interpreters, their mentors, and school districts that hire and mentor interpreters.
Pay and related licenses
The Bureau of Labor Statistics put Minnesota's median wage for interpreters and translators at $66,410 in May 2025, across 1,030 jobs and all settings.
Interpreters who move into teaching meet a signing requirement there too. Minnesota Rules 8710.5200 requires teachers of the deaf or hard of hearing to show ASL fluency at the Intermediate-Plus level of the Sign Language Proficiency Interview.
The listings on this page are Minnesota's current openings for educational interpreters.