HomeMy WebLinkAboutHandout Westlake Academy Interview-Hiring ProtocolWestlake Academy GREAT Teacher Profile
At Westlake Academy the expectation is to move from ‘Good to Great’. This refers to
the culture of ‘One School, Together’ and for all teachers to maintain and develop
effective classroom instruction.
1. What are the contributing factors to a positive and constructive whole
school culture?
This will be based on the trusting professional relationships between teachers and
administrators across the three IB Programmes.
A positive and constructive whole
school culture
What does this look like at a whole school level?
A shared understanding of the values and
beliefs, attitudes, expectations and possess
an emotional intelligence to develop
respectful and professional relationships.
A positive school culture is developed by faculty who:
• Espouse the Vision, Mission and Values to guide the
philosophy of the school
• Model the IB Learner Profile and relate the traits in
everyday lessons and actions
• Expect high quality standards of themselves, peers
and students
• Develop intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships
that care for the well-being of the organization and
contribute to its success.
Teachers seek opportunities to extend
relationships with students through
meaningful experiences.
Contributes to student life in and out of school by:
• Mentoring students in the Grade 6 Exhibition,
Personal Project and Extended Essay.
• Sponsoring student activities.
• Coaching sports.
• Chaperoning student events / trips.
• Attending student events.
• Assisting students in planning events.
• Organizing school trips.
• Engaging students in conversation.
Teachers seek opportunities to extend
relationships with parents through
meaningful experiences.
Effective communication channels are developed by faculty
that foster and promote the following attributes:
• Courageous with communications to parents to
establish trusting partnerships in the education process.
• Listen and respect parents as the first educator of their
child.
• Foster a positive environment where open proactive
communication occurs.
• Engage parents as key stakeholders in establishing an
active learning community.
• Create a plan of action and follow through with
support.
2. What constitutes highly effective instruction?
Great teachers are those that Engage, Motivate and “…inspire students to achieve their
highest individual potential…” every day through Effective Instruction.
Create a plan of action and follow through with support and guidance after meetings or
communication with parents.
Effective Instruction Examples of what this
looks like in the classroom?
Knows and clearly articulates the philosophy of
the IB programmes and the subject matter taught.
Justify and implement the teaching and learning
philosophy of their respective IB programmes in
planning, teaching practice, assessment and reporting
Connects and engages students in the learning
process and provide vitality, enjoyment and
motivation to learn relevant and significant bodies
of knowledge.
Working with students and providing constructive
feedback during class time. Students are on task and
engaged in learning.
Provides opportunities for students to apply
thinking skills critically and creatively to
recognize and approach complex problems, and
make reasoned, ethical decisions.
Challenging students with higher level thinking skills
with the support of the teacher and resources.
Teaches to the needs of the class and not utilize
the “one-size fits all” approach. Use differentiation strategies.
Supports students who “struggle”, as well as
those students who need extension. Utilize all
resources, both human and material, to accomplish
this.
Accommodate students with Special Needs based on
IEPs. Obtain help when needed from administration
and support teachers.
Articulates learning outcomes with a growth
mindset prior to lessons being taught and assess
according to these outcomes.
Teacher states what is to be achieved for the lesson
and reviews learning for students to clarify and
question..
Plans, implements and reviews lessons that
engage students with content, skills and values
from the IB Programmes and Texas standards.
Creates lessons that bring content to life with real
world application. Effectively integrates
instructional material, technology and other resources
into lessons.
Integrated use of planners that aligns learning
outcomes, objectives, and TEKS with consistent use
of rubrics.
Uses formative and summative assessments to
monitor student progress and achievement. Adapts
instruction according to results.
Allow students to make mistakes as part of the
learning process. Advances or slows instruction as
indicated by summative assessments.
Life-long Learning
Utilizes best practice research and approaches in
pedagogy in order develop various approaches to
teaching and learning.
Innovate and implement next practices to transform
learning for all in order to meet the needs of an ever-
changing global society.
WESTLAKE ACADEMY NEW HIRE INTERVIEW
QUESTIONS
Name of Applicant: Position:
Date:
Panel:
Introduction
Take 2-3 minutes to tell us what you have done to prepare yourself to be an educator in
an IB World School
Section 1: A positive and constructive whole school culture
1. In what ways would
you develop meaningful
respectful and
professional relationships
within the school?
Looking For:
* Person would give specific
examples of how they collaborate
and have meaningful interpersonal
relationships with teachers and
administrators.
* Demonstration of admiration for
someone and examples given of
how respect is gained.
Comments
2. How would you
contribute to student life?
Looking For:
* Candidate offers examples of
after school activities, mentoring
students and being student
centered. Evidence should relate
to aspects of academic, social and
physical development of a child.
Comments
3. Who are your
stakeholders and how do
you maintain effective
communication with
them?
Looking For:
* Identification of stakeholders,
which are: students, parents,
faculty and community.
* The applicant should
demonstrate a proactive stance
with communication on e-mail,
phone calls and face to face
conferences.
* Follow up communication
should be a priority thru action
plans are student centered.
Section 2: Effective Instruction
4. Describe what you
believe is an optimal IB
Learning environment?
(looks like, sounds like,
etc) What is the educator
doing? What are the
learners doing?
Looking For:
* Candidates’ vision is in line
with the Westlake Academy
vision that fosters the IB learner
profile attributes.
* The candidate gives examples
of how he or she models these
attributes in the classroom and at
all professional levels.
* The educator is engaging
students in a facilitated structured
inquiry mode of instruction.
Comments
5. Tell me about the
approaches or techniques
that work best for you in
your teaching?
Looking For:
* Variety of approaches that
incorporates differentiation
techniques that will allow
students to reach their full
potential.
Comments
6. Respond to the quote
by Alvin Tofler, “The
illiterate of the 21st
Century will not be those
that cannot read or write,
but those that cannot,
learn, unlearn, and
relearn.”
Looking For:
* The growth mindset is evident.
Candidates show that they have
kept up with progressive
approaches and are continually
growing as an educator thru
varied methods. Some examples
might include something the
applicant read, information
gained at a workshop, and an
indication of on-going
professional development. A
perferred candidate would
recommend “peer-coaching”
within the growth mindset.
Comments
7. How do you facilitate
inquiry in the classroom?
What do you understand
about inquiry methods of
learning?
Looking For:
* Candidate should mention
themselves as a facilitator of
knowledge and not a knowledge
giver. They should mention that
children are involved with the
learning by a higher level
questioning approach.
Comments
8. How can
individualization actually
be practiced in the
classroom? How would
you put individualization
into practice. How do
you individualize so that
children reach their
highest individual
potential.
Looking For:
* The applicant should display an
awareness of the need to start
with assessment data, needs
and/or interests of students then
they develop plans and activities
to follow for instruction. Their
should be clear evidence that you
begin with the student first then
the strategy follows.
Comments
9. What do you see as the
relationship between
assessment and design
(planning)?
Looking For:
* The teacher plans not with their
end in mind but the students
needs and interests. The
candidate should answer with the
response that they complement
each other.
Comments
10. If you were to change
from a lesson planner to a
lesson designer what
would that look like?
Looking For:
* A teacher would demonstrate
an understanding that children
determine the plans for you.
The candidate is not designing
lesson plans for themselves but
rather planning with the child in
mind. The teacher would be
student centered vs teacher
centered. Planning is influenced
by student needs and responses
which creates the environment of
students planning rather than
teachers planning in isolation.
Comments
Do you have any questions for the panel?
Steps for Employment Applicants at Westlake Academy
1. All applicants will be directed to the Region 11 AppliTrack website to fill out an
application. No paper applications should be handed out or accepted at the
school.
2. All Instructional applicants including aides and subs who meet the established
selection criteria will be directed to the Gallup website for a teacher assessment.
3. Human Resources will send a copy of the score and application to campus
leadership for review.
4. Administration will review applications and schedule their own interviews in
Outlook. Although not attending, HR should be copied/invited to each scheduled
interview so that HR can track candidate progression.
5. Initially, applicant will meet with Administration (Administration will scan and
send notes to HR).
6. Applicants who succeed to the next phase will meet with the campus
administration and interview panel. (Administration will scan and send notes to
HR).
7. Principal will check references on qualified and/or recommended candidates and
scan and send notes to HR.
8. Applicants who succeed to the next phase will meet with the Executive Principal.
9. Recommendation to hire will be made by Westlake Academy and HR will
disposition the applicant according to feedback from the Administration.
10. HR will run a background and fingerprint check on selected candidates and either
provide an offer letter based on our current Hiring Schedule or a letter of
rejection.
11. After acceptance, each new hire will meet with the Human Resource Department
prior to their first work day to review benefits and school policies.
Town of Westlake/Westlake Academy
Applicant Reference Check Form
Date: __________________ Applicant: _________________________________
Reference Checked By: ____________________________________________________
Name of Reference: Company:
Title: Phone:
What was your relationship with the applicant?
Did you directly supervise her/him?
What was the applicant’s title?
Dates of employment?
Salary?
What were the applicant’s major job duties?
How well did the applicant relate to others on the job?
How would you evaluate the applicant’s work quality and quantity (productivity)?
What were some of the applicant’s strengths?
In what areas did the applicant need improvement?
How would you evaluate the applicant’s work habits such as attendance, punctuality,
dependability, and observance of work rules?
What was the applicant’s reason for leaving?
Would you rehire the applicant (or is the applicant eligible for rehire)?
Is there anything I haven’t asked about the applicant that I should be aware of?