Interview Questions

1. What do you believe are the three major challenges facing special education today?

2. Tell us/me a little about yourself.

3. Describe your student teaching experience. What did you find most rewarding/challenging when you student taught? Describe the best lesson you taught and one that didn’t work.

4. What are your long-term professional goals and plans? How do you plan to achieve them?

5. How would you decide what should be taught in your classroom?

6. Tell us/me about your planning habits. If there a particular format that you
use? Do you plan on a weekly basis?

7. Scheduling is tricky and difficult at times. How do you approach conflicts that arise in regard to scheduling with your colleagues?

8. A special education teacher must be both organized and flexible. Give examples of ways that you have demonstrated both of these characteristics.

9. Discipline is an integral part of teaching. What are the characteristics of a well-managed classroom? What approaches and models do you plan to integrate into your classroom management plan?

10. Describe the ideal learning/classroom climate that you strive to attain.

11. Describe your teaching style. What techniques would you use to better reach all of the students in your classroom?

12. What do the terms “team teaching” and “co-teaching” mean to you?

13. What does “teamwork” mean to you as a special education teacher?

14. What will you do to engage parents? How will you get them actively involved in their child’s education?

15. How would you delegate responsibilities to a paraprofessional and monitor his/her performance?

16. State your educational philosophy. How do you incorporate it into your daily instruction?

17. How do you evaluate your own teaching skills to insure continual growth and refinement?

18. Paperwork/documentation is a strong concern in the area of special education. How will you manage those demands, in addition to your teaching responsibilities?

19. One of the challenges for a special education teacher is documentation. How would you collect and record necessary data for the students’ ERs, IEPs, and NOREPs?

20. What types of assessment have you used? What assessments would you use to document student learning and plan for future instruction? How would you use assessment to develop and modify IEP goals?

21. What are the three most important characteristics of an effective educator/teacher?

22. How do you motivate students and keep them actively engaged in the learning process?

23. Unfortunately, there are some negative elements that you will encounter within the profession. How will you interact with those individuals so they will not alter focus?

24. What extra-curricular activities do you feel comfortable directing?

25. To what specific area of special education are you most attracted and why?

26. Why do you feel you are qualified for the position for which you are applying?

27. What do you believe is your major strength?

28. What area do you need to improve the most?

29. Aside from your coursework, what additional reading have you done that is pertinent to your field?

30. The US Department of Education now recommends that schools use the RTI (“Response to Intervention” or “Response to Instruction”) Model rather than the Discrepancy Model to identify children with specific learning disabilities. Tell us what you know about this model.

31. How do you integrate technology into your teaching? Have you had any experience with specific technology to support the needs of special education students?

32. Given a wide range of ability levels in a classroom, how do you assure compliance with each child’s I.E.P.?

33. Have you had any experience supporting students with IEPs in the regular classroom? How have you or would you do this?

34. What are your views on inclusion versus self-containment of special education students?

35. What would you do to address inclusionary support with the general education staff? How would you deal with a general education teacher who refused to honor IEP modifications for the special education students in their classrooms?

36. What do you feel is the best service delivery model for special education students?

37. How familiar are you with the IDEA guidelines for special education? What are some of the timelines related to IEPs?

38. Describe both a successful and a challenging collaboration experience with a general education teacher.

39. How will you coordinate/facilitate instruction to meet Adequate Yearly Progress goals?

40. Why do you want to work in this district/IU? Why should we hire you? What distinguishes you from the other candidates who applied for this position?