Teacher Leader Coach

Support, college prep , honors , dual credit, AP/IB. So many class options, designed to meet kids where they are and prepare them for where they want to go. But do they serve their purpose for now and later? The "now" can be as simple as earning credits to get a diploma. The "later" can be as complex as earning college credit and closing lifetime earning gaps between demographics. Support classes are built for students who have shown a deficiency in achieving at the “normal” rate, so they are in classes with lower expectations. Or, they are deemed to be too immature to handle more rigorous school. The intentions of these classes are good, often focused on building the technical and behavioral skills students need to meet grade-level standards. For many students, these classes are their lifelines to earning graduation requirements. But these classes often lack experiences to foster critical thinking, application, innovation, and motivation. Support classes may help ...

Having recently been an interviewee for the first time in years, I’ve been reflecting on the process of how to properly vet candidates. Selfishly, I hope it helps me improve my ability to hire the right people. Bigger picture, hopefully this helps districts find their right people. Research from Adam Grant and others shows that the best interviews allow the interviewer to project the candidate on the job. Past performance should not be discounted, but how they can think about what they will do is more important. Forward-facing questions like, “How would you handle (insert scenario for the role being hired)” are better indicators of their ability for your role than “How have you (insert scenario for their current role).”  Consider the role-critical skills, and ask questions about these. Look for depth of answer over breadth. Many interviews are going to be time-limited. If the interview is set to last for 45 minutes, 15 questions give 3 per answer. 9 questions give 5. For any positi...