Helping a Friend with an Interview

This week, I wrote the 350^th column for A Better Path to Learning. When I started the column, I really didn’t have an interest to write on how the traditional public school system could be saved. Currently there are too many bad schools and too many kids struggling in all schools to think that. Instead, I wanted to spend my energies on presenting a vision for a new learning system, a system that could make all kids smarter and stronger.

But occasionally, a friend or colleague, still working in our traditional K-12 system, reaches out to ask advice about how to improve their schools or how to improve their districts. Just this week, a friend asked me to help him better prepare for principal interviews, since he has an interest in becoming a school leader soon.

It’s been a long time since I interviewed for a school principalship, but this week, while working with my friend, I was reminded of three themes I covered in that interview. In fact, I covered these three topics in every interview I had in my career, from classroom teacher to region superintendent.

So here they are, with bullet points added to offer “talking points” for anyone reading this that wants to use them for their benefit:

Safety and security

• Kids can’t learn and feel good about school unless they feel safe and secure.
• It’s the responsibility of everyone to keep a school safe and secure – security personnel (if available), administrators, teachers, staff, students, parents, community members.
• Visibility is the key to school safety and security. School leaders can spend time in their offices when students are not present. At other times, school leaders should be visible throughout the school throughout the school day.
• School safety and security demands a maintenance plan that ensures doors, windows, and locks are operationally secure.
• We will not tolerate kids who want to disrupt what we are trying to accomplish together when it comes to academic excellence and an outstanding school culture. 10% of the student body interested in disruption is not as important as the 90% of the student body interested in learning and participating.

Academic excellence

• Academic excellence begins with strong goals, curriculum, instructional strategy, and a question: “What do we want our kids to learn and know?” Goals should be SMART – strategic, measurable, attainable, results-driven, and time-bound. Curriculum should be state- and district-approved and aligned. Instructional strategies should be engaging and rigorous.
• Academic excellence depends on a school-wide assessment plan that answers this question: “How do we know kids have learned what we want them to learn?” Elementary school assessment begins with building strong readers, writers, and problem-solvers. Secondary assessment begins with grade level content, i.e. Chemistry or U.S. History. Are teachers assessing kids the same way within the same grade level content?
• Academic excellence ends with strong intervention plans for kids who need extra time and support to become smarter and stronger. An intervention plan should answer the question: “What will we do when kids don’t learn what we want them to learn?” Interventions should include tutoring, mentoring, study halls, and case study methodology.

School culture

• My wife’s high school principal started his daily announcements with “When we work, we work hard. And when we play?” Then he would let the entire school yell “WE PLAY HARD!” What a great way to start a day of school.
• Kids come to school not only to learn academics, but to participate in the life of the school – athletics, fine arts, performing arts, student clubs, and other extracurricular activities.
• Kids should have the opportunity to start their own clubs, with adult supervision of course.
• Schools should be bright places with lots of inspiration and student-centered focus.
• Pep rallies, talent shows, field days, and other student-centered activities are always a good idea when establishing a strong school culture.

So what am I forgetting? Are these the right themes to talk about to earn a leadership position in today’s K-12 system?

In a future column, it might be interesting to think about the important themes to share in a job interview when applying for an adult learning leader position in a learner-centered organization. I’m guessing safety and security, academic excellence, and a strong learning culture still might be the three themes to start with, but I’m also guessing the “bullet points” would be a bit different.

Stay tuned.

Friday News Roundup tomorrow. SVB