Hiring the Best Middle School Teachers With Behavior-Based Interviewing

Mary C. Clement

Behavior-based interviewing calls upon candidates to relate experiences in previous teaching, student teaching, field experiences, or previous work experience to better identify those with the potential to combine an understanding of curriculum, early adolescent characteristics, teaching strategies, classroom management, and professionalism.

Why do people choose middle grades teaching and what makes them effective at it? Elementary teachers report that they become teachers because they love children and high school teachers list loving their subject matter as a reason to teach (Parkay & Stanford, 1998; Wiseman, Knight, & Cooner, 2002). For middle grades teachers is the reason a combination of enjoying the subject matter and wanting to make a difference in the lives of young people? Are there hidden factors, such as being a little "wild and crazy" and a little like "Mother Goose" (Willems & Clifford, 1999) that make middle grades teachers effective at teaching? If we know the reasons that teachers give for entering the profession and we know the characteristics of effective teachers, can we use this information to hire the best new teachers?

The purpose of this article is to connect the characteristics of effective middle school teachers and the technique of behavior-based interviewing to facilitate the hiring of the best-qualified new teachers. If you are an employer, the discussion here should help you to build focused interview questions, adding to those questions you already use. Teachers can use the discussion as an aide in job searching, or as a guide when serving on hiring committees.

Growing Need for New Teachers

The need to hire "competent, caring, qualified" teachers (National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, 1996) can be seen at all levels of education. Teacher shortages exist in certain geographic areas because of increased student numbers, teacher retirements, and the low retention of new teachers. Teacher shortages in the fields of math, science, foreign languages, and special education make the recruitment of new hires in those areas challenging. Could the nature and needs of middle school students add yet another level of challenge to the staffing of middle schools?

It is known that there is no single path to becoming a teacher. Much research is being generated to compare traditional and non-traditional pathways (Darling-Hammond, Chung, & Frelow, 2002; Darling-Hammond, 2003; Kaplan & Owings, 2002). As middle school principals, personnel directors, and committees of teachers conduct job searches for hiring the best new faculty, they must be prepared for screening applicants with more varied preparations than ever before.

The Competencies of Middle School Teachers

Some states may be loosening the preparation for middle grades teachers while others are making that program of study even more specialized. McEwin, Dickinson, and Smith (2003) argued that specialized preparation of middle grades teachers is critical. They cited the National Middle School Association's standards and their own research to reinforce the point that teachers need specific preparation in the following six areas:

• Knowledge of young adolescents and their developmental characteristics
• Knowledge of the philosophy, organization, and curriculum best suited to middle level students
• Knowledge of developmentally and culturally responsive practices that focus on effective planning, teaching, and assessment
• Appropriate field experience with middle level students
• Knowledge and experience in collaboration with colleagues, families, and communities
• Preparation in the knowledge base of two or more subject matter fields. (pages 59-60)

The above list represents the view that teachers of the middle grades not only need to know the subject matter and how to teach it, but the specifics of "best practice" for middle schools—collaboration, team teaching, and a knowledge of the learner's developmental characteristics.

Kellough and Kellough (1999) listed 22 competencies of middle school teachers in their methods textbook. Their list begins with knowledge of the subject matter to be taught, includes being able to take risks, being nonprejudiced, being a strong communicator and model, and demonstrating "confidence in every child's ability to learn" (p. 86). The Kellough and Kellough list further states that a competent teacher is reliable, relates content matter to the lives of students, and "shares a healthy sense of humor" (p. 87).

As I have taught curriculum, methods, and classroom management to middle grades majors, I have wondered, "Is this enough to help them start their careers in this ever-challenging world of teaching?" (Clement, 2000). The challenges are demanding and the standards for student achievement and teacher accountability are ever rising.

The traditional searches between candidates and employers
While student teachers fear not finding positions, employers must certainly feel even more fear of not having enough qualified staff when the school doors open each fall. Traditionally, teacher candidates started their job searches at the college career center/placement office and their mailed resumes netted on-site interviews with schools. In today's teacher market, candidates can take advantage of national online services and recruiters come to them on their home campuses. Peterson (2002) wrote that "Although essential to optimal hiring, candidate recruitment is a weakness of most school districts" (p. 13). Good, systematic recruitment takes time, trained personnel, advertising, and travel expenses, all of which are costly. Because recruitment costs are up, districts must take advantage of ways to select candidates that will minimize the need for continual hiring of the same positions.

Behavior-based interviewing in the teacher selection process
Defined by Janz, Hellervik, and Gilmore (1986) as behavior-description interviewing, this technique is now referred to as behavior-based interviewing (BBI). Used widely in the business world, behavior-based interviewing is built on the premise that past behavior is the best predictor of future performance. Deems (1994) wrote that interviewing should be much more than "a gut feeling" about a candidate and that "the single best predictor of a candidate's future job performance is his or her past job behavior" (p. 9). BBI-style questions "target the candidate's past job behavior" allowing the interviewer to better predict what can be expected of the candidate if hired (Deems, 1994, p. 9).

When applied to teacher selection interviews, behavior-based interviewing calls upon the candidate to relate experiences in previous teaching, student teaching, or field experience. Some questions will require a student to articulate material learned in college classes, then apply that material to a school setting. While it can be argued, for example, that being able to talk about classroom management is different than actually being able to manage a classroom of 13-year-olds, it can also be defended that a candidate who can clearly state how he/she plans for management will be more able to begin managing a classroom. The opposite is also defendable—that a candidate who cannot explain how to assign grades in a sixth grade language arts classroom probably has not learned a system for grading and will have difficulty in this area without further training.

Behavior-based interview questions may vary in how they are worded, but often begin with "tell me about a time when." Interviewers trained in using this style of questioning evaluate candidates' responses telling about a past situation, the task presented, the action taken, and the result of the action. STAR serves as an acronym for situation, task, action, and result (Clement, D'Amico, & Protheroe, 2000). PAR is another acronym that helps candidates to remember to answer questions by telling about the problem, an action, and a result (Clement, 2002).

In an example of using a BBI-style question, an interviewer might ask, "Tell me about a time when you changed a lesson in the middle and then it went better." A strong candidate replies, "When teaching eighth grade language arts (situation), I was trying to get the whole class to discuss a chapter in a novel they had read (task), but my questions were not getting answers. I changed my strategy to asking the question and telling students that they had exactly one minute to discuss the best possible answer (action). Then, I wrote the key phrase of my question on the overhead. After one minute I asked for volunteers to share the answer their pair discussed. I actually got some responses that way (result)." Obviously, a new teacher who can explain this change of lesson plan knows some strategies that will work and is willing to make changes. The interviewer can also glean from the answer that the candidate knows something about how eighth graders may feel peer pressure not to answer as individuals, but are willing to share answers that develop from small group or paired work.

The success of behavior-based interviewing depends upon asking questions that assess knowledge and skills of the many facets of effective teaching. These include questions about curriculum, instruction, lesson planning, classroom management and organization, homework, grading, meeting individual student needs, and communication with parents, colleagues, and administrators. Some generic questions can be used for teachers of any grade, with others developed just for a middle school setting. As with any interview, the employer should create a list of questions used with each candidate for the sake of fairness.

Sample Generic Interview Questions for All Teachers

Curriculum

1. How have the national and state standards for teaching this subject area guided your teaching?
2. What are important curricular topics for this grade and subject area?

Planning

1. Describe how you plan a lesson.
2. Tell me about a time when you wrote a lesson plan that went well and a time when a plan did not go well. What was the difference?
3. What are some of your favorite ways to begin and end a class?
4. Describe a two-week unit you have taught.

Classroom management

1. Describe a classroom that you liked where you have observed or taught. What components of that room would you bring to your new classroom?
2. What kinds of rules, positives, and consequences are appropriate for students at this age?
3. What should be done the first week of school for starting a new school year?

Assessment and Grading

1. Describe a typical homework assignment that you have used in the past.
2. What have you done to increase the students' completion rate of homework?
3. Describe a grading system that you would implement in this new position.
4. While a lesson is ongoing, how can you tell if students are "getting" the new material?

Meeting the Needs of Individual Students

1. Describe an approach that you have used to help slow learners succeed.
2. What modifications have you made to lessons to assist special education or language minority students?
3. How can you help to promote tolerance and acceptance among your students?

Communication with Parents and Others

1. Describe positive parent communications that you have used in the past.
2. Tell me about a time when you discussed an issue with a parent and then the students' behavior or academic progress changed.

Obviously, questions on this list, and others in this style, provide more information to the employer than open-ended questions such as "tell me about yourself" or "what is your philosophy of teaching?" Tailoring the questions to more specific middle school teaching skills will provide the employer with substantial background to make a determination about hiring. It is important to determine characteristics and components of effective middle school programs before adding specific questions to the generic question list. The same is true for adding questions to the list that will help discern effective teachers from less-effective ones. Some proven middle school concepts to include in questions may be ones about advisor-advisee programs, exploratory classes, interdisciplinary teaming and organization, and positive school climate (Manning & Bucher, 2001). Middle school educators should be able to deal with "the tremendous developmental diversity of 10- to 14-year-olds, the unique nature of the middle school culture and communities, and the increasingly more difficult and challenging middle school curricular content" (Manning & Bucher, 2001, p. 195). Therefore, these issues should be built into interview questions.

Middle School Specific Questions

Collaboration

1. Tell me about a time when you have worked on a teaching team.
2. What are some advantages of team planning for working with and motivating students?
3. Describe your experiences of working in a "school within a school" concept.

Curriculum

1. Share an example you have seen or used for integrating writing across the curriculum.
2. How have you integrated math into other subject areas?
3. The improvement of students' reading skills is important during middle school. Tell about your experiences teaching reading directly, or how you have integrated reading strategies into other subject areas.

Teaching methods

1. Games can be intrinsically motivating to middle grades students. How have you used games to motivate students in your classes? Have you encountered problems with the use of games, and how did you resolve the problem?
2. Describe any opportunity you have had to give students an outside audience for their work (presentations, writings, website).
3. Describe a lesson that you have taught that helped prepare your students for high school.
4. How do your teaching strategies help prepare students for taking standardized tests?

Student needs

1. What is a typical concern/worry that middle school students bring to their teachers as advisors/counselors and how have you dealt with such a concern?
2. How have you found back-up help for a student problem if you felt the issue was beyond your area of expertise?
3. Adolescents need time for talking and expressing their opinions. How have you built time into your day to allow students to discuss opinions, talk about topics of interest, and to "vent" their frustrations?
4. Besides group discussions, how have you been able to give students opportunities to express their interests, goals, and concerns?
5. Describe an activity that you have used that helps your students to de-stress.

School climate

1. What have you implemented to make your classroom welcoming and student-friendly?
2. What strategies have you used or observed to improve school climate and increase student attendance?
3. Do you have a special skill or interest that you have shared with students in an exploratory class or homeroom?

Classroom management

1. Much has been written about logical consequences for student misbehaviors. Describe a common misbehavior seen in middle school and what a logical consequence for the behavior might be.
2. How have you involved students in discussion of rules, consequences, and rewards? Why is this step of establishing a management plan so important to middle school students?
3. What words or phrases have become typical positive reinforcements in your teaching vocabulary and how do middle school students respond to this type of reinforcement?

Communication and professionalism

1. How much information do you share about yourself with students during the first days of school? Why?
2. Tell about a challenging parent conference that you were involved in and how that conference was resolved.

Interpretation of answers
The best answers that candidates can make indicate their experiences and some reflection on learning from their experiences. After all, new teachers cannot know everything and answers that show a willingness to learn and grow are indicative of a teacher willing to improve. If the candidate is joining the teaching force through an alternative program, they should be able to provide answers about how they worked on a team in another setting, how they motivated former employees, or how they taught lessons on specific topics in their work environment. Some job skills are transferable to the classroom, as are the potential employee's work ethic and attitude. The behavior-based interview comes closer than other interview styles to identifying past behaviors that will serve as indicators of a competent, positive new employee. The following examples provide indicators of strong and weak answers to BBI-style interview questions.

When asked, "Tell me about a time when you worked on a teaching team," Sandra replies that the first seven-weeks of her student teaching were spent at Richlands Middle School, where she was actually assigned to a team of teachers as her joint supervisors. She says that her "home" was with a language arts teacher with six years of experience and the other three teachers expected her to observe and teach with them on a rotating basis. "The scheduling of my teaching would have been a nightmare without the joint planning time. Also, I learned very quickly that I could get the students to concentrate on what I was teaching by referring to what they just did in their previous class. Most importantly, I saw that we had to have the same five rules for management and that we had to be consistent, since students were with us every day." Sandra's strong answer tells us that she has experienced working with her colleagues and saw the value of communication with them. She indicated that she is aware of using students' past classes as a strategy to transition to her lesson, and she knows the value of rules with consistent reinforcement.

When asked this same question, a weak answer would be, "The problem with teaching teams is the same problem as with committees—a few people do all the work. When I worked as a long-term sub last semester, it was evident that no one wanted to work with me, so I attended the meetings, but then realized I had to do my own thing. There was never enough time to really do joint planning the right way, anyway." Experienced interviewers see the "red flags" with this answer. This teacher's past behavior pointed out that she tends to isolate herself and may even blame others for the failure of the teaching team. Her future performance may be one of isolation and complaint, as well.

Since classroom management issues remain a high concern for all teachers and administrators, asking candidates about their experience with management is a must. Asking candidates to describe a common misbehavior seen in middle school and what a logical consequence for that behavior might be is a good way to hear a candidate's experience with management. Jeff begins his answer by saying that his favorite book about middle school is Rick Wormeli's (2003) book Day One and Beyond. He read the book during student teaching and it really gave him a good philosophy for his work. During student teaching, his cooperating teacher had posted rules and both he and the teacher used them. The most common problem was students who blurted and shouted out answers inappropriately. He learned to do several things about this. "I generally started with a verbal warning, such as 'I need to hear your classroom voice.' I quickly learned that I could sound like a broken record, too, and that worked. My favorite line was 'We are scholars now—save that shout for the pep rally at three.' More importantly, I learned to set up my classroom discussions in a better way to prevent the shouting out. Using 'think, pair, share, and then tell the group' gave students each a chance to talk to a partner before they spoke to the group. Another thing about shouting out is that sometimes we can use it positively! Having a three-minute review game where teams can answer quickly is a motivator."

Jeff's answer shows that he uses the knowledge base of teaching and reads for good ideas. He knows that changing an activity may eliminate the need for disciplining a behavior, and he recognizes that being firm and friendly may work with this age group. His answer predicts his future behavior and disposition for the classroom. A contrasting weak answer would be that of Susan. Susan begins her answer by saying, "Both of my cooperating teachers from last year said the same thing to me, that there was no way to read a book and learn to manage. Every day last semester I had to put checks by students' names on a file card, then write up needs-improvement slips for those students. The most common misbehavior was just talking, but it was so constant that we had to do something to stop it. I have learned to never talk over students who are talking, so I try hard to keep them relatively quiet with needs-improvement slips and sometimes giving candy to ones who are quiet. It is a challenge. With experience, I hope this improves."

Susan's answer is typical of a beginner, but she indicates that she thinks management will just come with more experience. Experience will help, but she does not have a knowledge base upon which to build, and she will probably implement her checks and candy system as a new hire, which is not as strong as other plans.

Today's teachers realize that student stress is a concern that can lead to management problems and lowered student achievement. To raise achievement and promote a healthy classroom climate, teachers need to be able to recognize when individuals and the entire class are stressed, and to provide avenues for positive stress relief. Toward this end, asking candidates to describe an activity that they have used to help students de-stress is appropriate.

Sherrill answers this question by saying that today's young people live in a world filled with stressors—constant video games, TV, and chaotic home lives add to their stress. While she has not student taught and will work under a provisional license while pursuing full certification, she has observed in middle school and relates that she wants to implement two techniques she saw while shadowing a teacher. "First of all, I really liked the morning journal activity that I observed. My teacher said that she asked students to write what was number one on their minds, and that if they needed immediate attention for what they were writing, she would talk with them one-on-one before the first block of language arts. She encouraged them to write what was bothering them, and then to pretend they had a magical source to help them with the problem. What would the source say? It was cool and I will use it to start my homeroom or writing hour. Also, in the late afternoon, my teacher had students do some jumping jacks and neck rolls to wake back up. I got to lead the class in neck rolls during a long test one afternoon and it seemed to help."

Sherrill's strong answer indicates that while she has had limited experience, she has ideas in place for her future performance. This is indicative of a more resourceful teacher than the following weak answer from Pam. "Stress is the buzzword of our society. I am here to teach math and science to my classes and that is what I will do to keep them busy, behaved, and on-task. If they are busy and working, I won't have these other problems. Seventh-graders just need more to do—not more to worry about. If they tell me that they are stressed, I'll make sure that they see the counselor during homeroom." Pam may not even see the problems of stressed-out students, and her strategy is to get a counselor involved, instead of adding productive steps to her own lessons.

The premise of behavior-based interviewing rests on identifying candidates who have had experiences with situations deemed important to future success. Candidates' answers will give insight into experience, probable future performance, and how the candidates will reflect and change their own actions in the classroom. Exhibiting good communication skills and knowledge of how to teach and manage children, the strong candidates will be positive and enthusiastic. The best candidates will inspire even the interviewer.

Why Hiring Is Just the Beginning

Having invested much time in creating a set of interview questions, reviewing applicants' written materials, and finally, interviewing candidates, a principal cannot afford to simply hire new teachers and hope for the best. Hiring the best new teachers is just the beginning of building a strong middle school faculty. A quality teacher induction program is the next key ingredient for success. Even the strongest of new candidates will lose their positive outlook if not supported on the job. Teacher induction may include orientation at the beginning of the year, followed by seminars throughout the year on relevant topics that the teachers themselves choose to discuss and study. A good induction program often includes mentoring, where veteran teachers who have been trained in their mentor roles serve as guides and role models to the new teachers. New teachers feel supported if they know that they can ask questions openly and get help without negative repercussions. In the unique middle school setting, the teaching team needs to be very accepting of the new teacher's ideas and philosophy. Sometimes, just not calling the new teacher the "new kid" will help them feel more accepted at their job. Celebrating the success of students and teachers will make all school employees feel supported at their jobs.

"The success of a school depends, in large measures, on the quality of its teaching staff," (McEwan, 2002, p. xi). The use of behavior-based interviewing in the business world to identify the strongest candidates who are best suited to positions may now be coming of age in the world of education. Because middle school environments must provide strong educational experiences for their students, behavior-based interviewing may help schools hire new teachers who can provide the teaching skills needed by their students. Because all hiring takes so much time and effort, investing in this promising technique is well worth the try, since educators must continue to strive for improvement of all areas of the profession, including interviewing.

References

Clement, M. C. (2000). Just how do you teach someone to be a teacher? Phi Delta Kappan, 82(4), 308-309.

Clement, M. C. (2002). Help wanted: How to hire the best teachers. Principal Leadership, 3(1), 16-21.

Clement, M. C., D'Amico, J. J., & Protheroe, N. (2000). Essentials for principals: How to interview, hire, and retain high-quality new teachers. Alexandria, VA: National Association of Elementary School Principals.

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Darling-Hammond, L., Chung, R., & Frelow, F. (2002). Variation in teacher preparation: How well do different pathways prepare teachers to teach? Journal of Teacher Education, 53(4), 286-302.

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Manning, M. L., & Bucher, K. T. (2001). Teaching in the middle school. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.

McEwan, E. K. (2002). 10 Traits of highly effective teachers: How to hire, coach, and mentor successful teachers. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

McEwin, C. K., Dickinson, T. S., & Smith, T. W. (2003). Why specialized preparation is critical. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 39(2), 58-61.

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Parkay, F. W., & Stanford, B. H. (1998). Becoming a teacher (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

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Willems, A. L., & Clifford, J. C. (1999). Characteristics of effective middle level teachers. Education, 119(4), 734-736.

Wiseman, D. L., Knight, S. L., & Cooner, D. D. (2002). Becoming a teacher in a field-based setting (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Wormeli, R. (2003). Day one & beyond: Practical matters for new middle-level teachers. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Mary C. Clement is an associate professor of teacher education at Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia. E-mail: mclement@berry.edu