Principal

► Give us some background information and take a moment to introduce yourself.

► How would you describe your leadership style?

► What are some ways you have dealt with challenges, and how did you find solutions?

► How would you describe your classroom management style?

► What advice would you give to a new teacher on his or her first year?

► What advice would you give to a veteran teacher in need of improvement?

► What steps would you take if you dealing with a student discipline incident?

► Give some examples of how you have communicated with parents of challenging students.

► What would be your ideal school environment, and how would you encourage that kind of culture?

► What questions do you have for us about this position?

► Have you served as a principal before? If, so what grade level schools (elementary, middle, high)? How many years?

► What was the test performance of the students in your schools? State tests, National test?

► Describe your average daily routine in percents by the following: Discipline, buses, lunchroom, classroom visits, parent conferences, staff meetings, building and grounds, paperwork/reports, meetings outside of school.

► What role do parents play in your school? Give specific examples.

► What is the function of the PTA/PTO in your school?

► What is the function of the School Council in your school?

► How do you recruit teachers?

► How do you keep parents informed?

► Describe your style of leadership and give examples.

► How would you handle a situation where a parent wants her child removed from a particular teacher's classroom; however, the teacher wants the child to stay?

► Name five words that best describe you as an administrator.

► Give three reasons why you should be selected as the principal of our school.

► What are your immediate or short-term goals for our school? What are your five-year goals?

► Who do you involve in decision making issues?

► How do you evaluate student work and how do you know whether that work meets standard?

► How do you evaluate teachers and other staff? What are your criteria?

► Explain your view of work ethics.

► How do you monitor staff as their compliance with the Georgia Teacher Code of Ethics?

► What role would the business community serve in a school under your supervision?

► Describe your involvement in community and civic activities.

► Describe the best teacher you know. Describe the best parent you know. Describe the best student you know.

► How do you measure the success of a school?

► What are the steps you follow in dealing with a child that is not demonstrating success? Who do you involve and when?

► Describe your most successful experience as a principal.

► Describe you worst experience as a principal.

► Please introduce yourself, tell us about your background in education and what interested you in applying for this opening.

► Data is a large part of determining student and teacher success. Explain your involvement in professional learning communities and how you have used data to promote student achievement.

► We are community growing in diversity. Explain how you would reach out to people from various demographics to ensure all students and community members are included in learning.

► What is your philosophy of teaching? What advice would you offer teachers whom you are supervising?

► Principal positions require intense time-management. Please give examples of how you organize your day to meet the various demands and commitments required as a school principal.

► Conflict-resolution and communication are important parts of school leadership. Can you give examples of how you have successfully managed difficult situations at school?

► What is your philosophy of leadership? How would you lead a school-wide initiative expected for an entire district?

► What questions, clarifications, or concerns do you have for us?

At times the principal may delegate the discipline of an unruly student to you. A potential employer will want to know how you have used discipline in the past and whether it was effective. Some administrators use detention, suspension or even expulsion. Respond with specific situations you have dealt with and detail what you learned from each. Include information about the offense, the steps you took and the outcome. If you are new to administration, use what you have learned in your classes and witnessed in your educational experience to detail how you would handle an imaginary but common scenario. You might also explain how and when you would involve parents and teachers in a disciplinary issue.

Interacting with parents is another important part of an assistant principal's day. Most parents are eager to be involved in their child's education and are heavily invested in their success. You might participate in formal and informal meetings and conferences with parents whose children are not meeting academic or behavioral standards. Parents can become very angry or upset in these meetings, particularly if they feel their child is being treated unfairly. You will need to be adept at handling an emotionally charged situation. If you have ever dealt with this type of situation, give your interviewer some context for what was happening and why the parent was upset. Explain how you handled it, how the parent responded, and what you learned from the situation that you can apply to future conflicts. If you have never deal with an angry parent, provide an example of another time when you were able to diffuse a tense situation.

One of your duties may be to conduct evaluations of teacher performance. If a classroom scores lower than anticipated on a standardizes test or if the school has received numerous complaints about a particular teacher from parents, students or staff you may be required to investigate the situation and confront the individual. The interviewer will want to understand your method for evaluating a teacher's instructional effectiveness as well as their behavior towards students, parents and coworkers, including how you would gather all relevant information. The hiring manager will also want to know that you are capable of confronting a coworker while maintaining a good working relationship. You should be able to detail how you would work with the teacher to design a plan for improvement and a means of evaluating the effectiveness of that plan. As with all questions, include real examples from your own experience whenever possible.

You will have many duties as an assistant principal, so being able to perform many tasks all at once is imperative. In some cases, your interviewer will provide you with a hypothetical scenario in which the principal is out of the office and you are in the cafeteria supervising lunch break. During this time, you receive not only a report about a fight in a classroom, but you are also notified of an angry parent in your office demanding a meeting. Here, your interviewer is asking you to prioritize these tasks efficiently. Your answer should be short but precise. "I would ask another teacher to supervise the cafeteria long enough to bring the fighting students into my office and schedule a meeting with the parent."

► What are the teacher hours?

► What are the student hours?

► What is your teacher turn-over rate?

► Are there before and/or after school programs?

► What is the average class size?

► What kind of mentors, help, or support is available for new teachers?

► What is your policy regarding lesson planning-would I need to keep records in my room or turn them into you?

► What is the number of hours expected in school activities outside of class time?

► What special services are available for students? (Counselors, psychologists, health services)

► Do you have a school-wide discipline plan? What is it?

► What consequences are there for disciplinary infractions?

► What tools/aides are available…? (Library, TV/VCR, textbooks for each student, music, computers, etc.)

► How are supplies ordered and received?

► What are some of the strengths of the school?

► How are teachers supported and appreciated by the administration of this school?

► What is the student population like?

► What is the ethnic / socio-economic make-up of the students? (Are there any immigrants? If needed do you have access to bilingual resources?)

► What are the main challenges facing the school?

► In what ways does the school link with the local community?

► Are extracurricular assignments available?

► Does your school/district offer faculty in-service training during the school year?

► What curriculum is used in Reading / Math / Language?

► Do you have an active parent-teacher association?