Improvement of Job Performance:
1. How would you deal with a staff member who is either continuously late to work or excessively absent?
2. Please outline the process for evaluating teachers that you believe to be most effective.
3. Identify the essential elements of a plan for improvement for teachers whose performance is not satisfactory.
4. A teacher who has been employed by the district for many years is not performing
satisfactorily…how would you proceed?
5. A popular teacher is doing an outstanding job. How would you approach the required evaluation of this employee?
6. Describe reliable indicators of an effective classroom.
7. What have you done to assist a teacher in improving his/her areas of weakness and supporting his/her strengths?

Multi-Cultural Diversity:
1. How would you effectively promote or facilitate multicultural environment?
2. Cite specific examples where you have initiated programs and opportunities to meet the diversified needs of students.
3. How have/will you promote multi-cultural awareness and appreciation for diversity?
4. Share your experiences in meeting the needs of a culturally diverse student body.
5. What are your visions on multi-cultural education? How have/would you include this in the average operation of a school?
6. What strategies have you used to bring about unity and to increase inclusiveness in ethnically and economically diverse student populations?
7. What strategies have you utilized to increase student achievement of minority students where that has been a concern?

Exceptional Educational Needs:
1. What do you see as regular education’s core in servicing special education students?
2. What are your experiences and beliefs about fulfilling the needs of special education students?
3. What are your experiences and beliefs about fulfilling the needs of students at risk?
4. Describe your experiences in developing school programs for students with special needs.

Leadership Qualities:
1. Why would you like to be a (principal)?
2. What qualities do you consider essential for an effective (principal)?
3. Share the details of the implementation process by which you introduced an innovative practice in your current building/district.
4. What is your vision for this building/district in the next decade?
5. Describe how you prepare for and spend a typical workday.
6. What leadership attributes do you believe to be your strengths? Cite examples in which you demonstrated these qualities.
7. What are some beliefs and practices related to education administration which you absolutely will not compromise? Cite examples where you held to these beliefs and practices in the face of adversity.
8. How do you initiate/facilitate change? Cite an example.
9. Highlight the basic elements of delegation and share an example of how you typically delegate responsibilities.
10. How do you get staff members excited about new ideas/changes?
11. How do you motivate staff members?
12. What are the most important functions of an administrator in this position?
13. What are appropriate organizations/community activities for an administrator in this position?
14. If you were observed in your normal workday, what would be seen which would help to understand your leadership style?
15. What is your vision for your school/position? What special talents do you bring to facilitate this vision?
16. How have you provided educational leadership for classroom teachers?

Student Discipline:
1. What role should a principal take in regard to student discipline?
2. When is it appropriate for the principal to intervene in a student disciplinary concern?
3. Describe the process or system you believe to be most effective in addressing student discipline.
4. What techniques for managing children’s behavior have you used?

Relationships/Communication:
1. What type of relationship would you establish with the employees you supervise?
2. How have/would you encourage the involvement of parents and community members in the educational process?
3. How have/would you promote articulation and cooperation between departments?
4. What are the elements of effective communication?
5. What type of relationship would you like to have with students and staff? How would you develop these relationships?
6. How can cooperation and camaraderie be maintained in spite of competition for limited resources?
7. Please share a time in which you worked with parents and the community in some kind of school-community partnership. What did you do?
8. Just as the student population has become more diverse, so has the parent population. How have/would you make parents feel more a part of their child’s education and increase their level of comfort in a school setting?
9. What role have you taken as an educator and a leader in interacting with the community?
10. Describe a situation in your current position in which you had to deal with a volatile or sensitive encounter concerning a student, staff member, or parent. How was this situation resolved?

Technology:
1. How have/would you utilize technology to be most effective as an administrator?
2. What new technologies and applications do you foresee for the future of education?
3. How does technology interface with education at this level?

Professional Growth and Development:
1. How have/would you insure an effective staff development program for your staff members?
2. What professional development activities have you pursued in the past year? How have you found them to be beneficial?
3. What are your main goals and aspirations for your professional career?
4. How do you determine your effectiveness as an administrator?
5. How do you balance the demands and stress of education administration with other demands and needs in your life?
6. What are your interests outside of education administration?
7. What is it about being an administrator that brings/will bring you the greatest satisfaction?

Problem Solving/Decision Making:
1. Share your beliefs/experiences with site-based decision making.
2. What areas lend themselves best to site-based decisions and what areas should not be open to a site-based decision-making process?

ASPIRING TO GET A JOB AS A PRINCIPAL? DON’T WASTE YOUR EFFORTS THRU TRIAL & ERROR. PERFECT YOUR INTERVIEWING STRATEGIES. GET LARRY’S HELP. LARRYARONSTEIN@YAHOO.COM