Handout #11
Interview Questions
Teachers
Continuous Improvement:
1. What is your school’s mission? Was the mission determined collectively? Do you think all stakeholders understand and buy-in to the school’s mission?
2. What is your own personal vision for your school three years from now? What will need to happen for this to occur? How will you know if the school is making progress toward achieving the vision? How will we know if we are more effective three years from now than we are today?
3. How does your school-based leadership team (SBLT) function? What type of support do they offer teachers related to increasing instructional effectiveness? Is this support sufficient and what types of other support do teachers need?
4. Describe your school’s teaming structure. How much time do you spend working collaboratively with other teachers? How focused and productive is this time? What is impact of this collaboration on student outcomes? What could be done to improve the effectiveness of teaming?
5. Do your teams utilize data to reflect on instructional effectiveness, make appropriate instructional changes, and celebrate student success? Describe this process?
6. What does professional development look like at your school? Within your district? Is the provided professional development sufficient to allow you to implement required strategies/initiatives with fidelity and to meet the needs of diverse students?
7. Are you provided with on-going coaching and feedback following formal professional development? How could the professional development protocol at your school be improved?
Student Engagement:
1. Describe opportunities students have to express their ideas and concerns, make choices or exercise control over their educational experience.
2. Do student understand the connection between what they are learning in class and their personal educational and life goals? What could be done to improve students’ perception of instructional relevancy?
3. Describe the quality of adult-student relationships at your school. What could be done to promote adult-student relationships and ensure each student has at least one adult at school that they would feel comfortable going to for help?
4. Describe peer interactions at your school. Are students supportive of each other’s learning? Is bullying an issue at your school? What could be done to promote peer relationships and peer support for learning?
5. How sufficient are family and community supports for increasing student learning and outcomes? What could be done to improve or increase these supports?
6. Describe your school’s positive behavior support program. How effective is the program in teaching and reinforcing appropriate behavior? What could be done to improve this program?
Standards Based Instruction:
1. Describe the process for planning, preparing, delivering, and evaluating instruction:
a. How do teachers decide what students are expected to learn?
b. How do teachers know they have learned?
c. How do teachers respond when some students don’t learn?
d. How do teachers respond when some students have already learned?
2. Describe the structure of a typical lesson.
a. What percentage of the class period do teachers typically spend lecturing?
b. How often do students work collaboratively with their peers?
c. How are students typically provided with feedback?
d. What percentage of the class period do students spend working independently?
3. How are learning objectives and goals communicated to students? For lessons? For assignments? For assessments?
4. How well does the school prepare students for middle/high school? How do you know?
Differentiation and Intervention:
1. What is the process for collecting and analyzing formative assessment and progress monitoring data? How is data used to assess and inform instruction and monitor and celebrate student progress?
2. What are the top two or three barriers for students to be successful at your school? How are these barriers addressed currently?
3. How is the master schedule developed? What information is used to make decisions about the allocation of time and resources? Does the master schedule allow for sufficient teaming and intervention time?
4. What happens when a child begins to struggle in a class? Is intervention response left up to the individual teacher and student or are intervention opportunities built into the master schedule and required of struggling students?
5. How do intervention teachers know what students need to know, understand, and be able to do in their core academic courses to be successful?
6. What do you believe are the most pressing issues for teachers at your school to meet the needs of diverse learners?
a. What support is most needed for teachers to meet the needs of students?
b. What is currently being done to address these issues?