principal search

[am]

I am on the search committe for our building principal and I needed some input on this. Our school has been underperforming for the past several years, we have low morale, many teacher conflicts, poor parent and teacher involvement, we don't have enough required services for our students, little funding and we have had 4 principals in the past 6 years (who I might add were waiting out their retirements and did nothing!). The committee needs to come up with some interview questions. I was wondering if it would be worth it to just briefly explain the situation our school is in and ask potential candidates what they would do to improve our current situation. I thought it would be more beneficial than to ask standard interview questions. Any thoughts on this?

 

[BlueEyes]

I definitely think that you should be upfront about your school's situation. They should know what they are getting themselves into and you want to find a candidate who is up for the challenge and can make a difference. I would ask questions about what they would do to address specific academic needs as well as questions about what they would do to improve building climate and morale. You want to get the best person for the job and the only way you can do that is by being honest and asking real questions.

 

[M.]

Re

I don't think that it should be the only question asked, but I do think that it is an important one. Here are some other questions to ask:

1. What will he or she do to improve school morale?
2. How do they handle discipline issues?
3. What things has he or she done in previous jobs to that improved the school environment?
4. Have them give you a situation where now, looking back, they wish they would have acted differently...what was the situation, how did they act, why do they now wished they would have acted differently, and how would they have acted? I like this one because we all make mistakes and I think it's good to here how they learned from their mistakes. You can get an idea of how the principal has changed over the years and improved at the job.
5. Have him or her define the duties of a principal.
6. Have him or her give you his or her philosophy of education.