New England Association of Schools and Colleges
Commission on Public Elementary and Middle Schools (CPEMS)

Teacher Interviews

The Peer Review Visit

 
The Teacher Interview
A Process for Assessing NEASC
 Teaching and Learning Standards 
So, You’ve Been Selected
If you have received this handout, you most likely have been randomly selected by your principal, your steering committee or the chairperson of the NEASC Visiting Committee to be part of the “Teacher Interview” component of the NEASC Peer Review Visit. The “teacher interview” is a recent addition to the peer review process, and it is designed to benefit both those who are on the visiting committee and those who represent the school faculty and administration.
 
The interview process enables the members of the visiting committee another opportunity to gather and document evidence about how the school puts into practice the teaching and learning standards. The “teacher interview” enables the visitor to learn specifically about how the teaching and learning standards are actually implemented in the discrete classrooms. The interview may take one of a variety of combinations: “one on one”, “two on two”, “one on two” depending on the needs of the visiting committee and the request of the committee chairperson.
 
Members of the teaching staff will meet informally with a member of the visiting committee to discuss the instructional strategies and assessment practices used by him or her in the teaching and learning processes within the classroom. Examples of student work would be helpful as a means of demonstration. Visiting committee members will look for information that aligns with the standard and indicators of the Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment portions of the NEASC Standards.
 
Visiting committee members are encouraged to understand that their role is not to pry, not to seek opinions but to center the conversation on the teaching and learning practices that currently take place in a teacher’s classroom and ask teachers whom they are interviewing to explain the different and differentiated approaches used.   It is important not only to seek after the information, but also to listen carefully and allow the teacher to enrich the discussion with anecdotal information and sharing of student work. 
 
While some may view this as anxiety producing, the NEASC plans it to be a conversation between professional educators who are discussing the heart of their daily business. The design is set to develop a professional and personal rapport between members of the faculty and members of the visiting committee, to obtain evidence to shed light on how well the school meets the NEASC standard and to give teachers and schools a chance to “shine” as an integral piece of the peer review visit. 
 

                                                                                                                                
 
What Are They Going to Ask Me?
The following are a list of questions which we give to visiting team members to use as a guideline for the interview. They will help you to prepare. It would be helpful if you brought some examples of your students’ work with you to demonstrate how you do things. 
  • The school has a statement of mission and expectations which includes academic expectations for students. How aware of it are you? How does it influence what you do in the classroom? What specific expectations are you responsible for teaching in your different classes?
  • Tell me about the students and classes you teach.   What criteria do you use to assess their work? Did the kids know the criteria ahead of time? How? Do the kids assess their own work? Do they have the opportunity to redo their work in order to improve their performance?
  • Do you have a written curriculum available to you for the subjects you teach? Describe it. Is it an outline? Is it helpful? Do you have any say in changing it? How often do you refer to it?

More Questions

  • How do you differentiate your instruction to meet the needs and learning styles of your students?    How do you adjust the content to help students improve? Do you adjust your instructional techniques as a result of assessment?
  • Describe other instructional techniques you use in your classes. How do you determine which technique you will use and when to use it? 
  • What ways do you assess student learning? How have the results of these assessments affected your teaching? 
  • How do you know if the curriculum is challenging the range of students in your class? How have you adjusted what you teach as a result of unexpected performances by the students? How do you challenge your students?
  • Give me some examples of ways that you have used results from the assessment of student learning to adjust how you teach and what you teach in your everyday classes.
  • How will you use the results from the assessment of student learning to adjust the planned curriculum?
  • Please tell me how you inform students about the learning they have to demonstrate and the level of acceptable accomplishment.
  • How do you accommodate varying learning styles and levels of development in your instructional practices? How do you report it in your assessment? 
  • How does the system support your instruction and assessment practices?
For further information, talk with your principal or contact:
 
Commission on Public Elementary and Middle Schools
209 Burlington Road
Bedford, MA01730
781-271-0022
 
David L. Flynn
Director of the Commission
dflynn@neasc.org

 

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