Page 7 - Teacher Selection and Onboarding Guide

It is highly unlikely that a response to the previous question would provide the school site
selection committee with evidence of the candidate’s past experience and associated areas of
knowledge, skills, and abilities. A more effective question would be:

Example of Effective Interview Question:

Provide an example of when you worked with parents
to support the progress of their child.

This latter question will tap more directly into the candidate’s past experience and produce
responses that provide the interviewing committee with valuable information on the candidate’s
ability to handle “critical incidents” which are common in the role of a teacher. Additional
examples of effective teacher interview questions aligned with the SDPBC Model of Instruction,
are included (Appendix 1).

QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS TO AVOID

The following topics must not be discussed or should be avoided, and may be considered
discriminatory.

• Affiliations • Birthplace • Marital Status • Religion
• Age • Disabilities • National Origin • Sexual Orientation
• Arrest Record • Health • Race • Sex

It is important that you do not violate the privacy or rights of the applicant. If a question is not
related to the job and has no impact on an applicant’s ability to perform the essential functions
of the job, the question should be avoided in an interview.

Examples of Questions to Avoid

Unacceptable Acceptable
What year did you graduate from high school? Are you over the age of 18?
Are you a citizen of the United States? Are you legally authorized to work in the
United States?
Have you ever spent the night in jail? Have you ever been convicted of (fraud,
theft…)

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