It's Hiring Season: Reap the Benefits of Reviewing Your Practices

As you lay the groundwork for hiring new faculty and staff this year, here are some resources and ideas to consider.

Ask the Right Interview Questions

A recent article appeared in the Higher Education Chronicle titled, “We Need a New Interview Script: Why Do We Keep Asking Questions That Yield Little But Vague, Canned Answers?” It speaks to the wasted time spent asking questions that are

1. canned;
2. impersonal;
3. have two parts; and
4. have no good answers. 

So, think carefully about the process you’re using when you hire teachers. It’s much better to ask, “Tell us a time when,” questions than “What would you do if?” Past behavior predicts future behavior.  

Additional Resources

Dr. Bonnie Boothroy and Dr. Troyce Fisher have recorded a webinar on best practices for hiring. Access the recording and companion materials.

Promoting the Need for Innovation

There’s a growing understanding that big changes are going to be needed in education for Iowa students to be successful learners, earners and citizens in the 21st century. “It’s not just the rest of the nation that Iowa’s kids have to compete with now. It’s the rest of the world,” said Iowa’s director of education, Dr. Jason Glass.

To keep Iowa’s education stakeholders current with this reality we offer a reminder of the website that's here to help: It’s Iowa Future, found at http://iowafuture.org.

Iowa Future is promoting the need for innovation — a willingness to abandon some of the ways of the past and try new things to provide the 21st century education Iowa students need.

The site is a forum for sharing ideas from across the state and nation, and highlighting work underway to prepare students for the future — the Iowa Future. The website provides videos, discussion guides, presentation templates, testimonials, links to great resources and more. In addition, visitors can offer fresh ideas of their own.

Five state education groups are collaborators on the site. They are Iowa Area Education Agencies, Iowa Association of School Boards, Iowa Department of Education, Iowa State Education Association and School Administrators of Iowa. The work is supported by a grant from The Wallace Foundation.

Update on by Tracy Harms

A new Iowa Future video, “Iowa, Did You Know?,” highlights the drastic changes occurring in Iowa and the world, and shows that schools are struggling to keep up in today’s dynamic new global environment. The video premiered at the SAI Annual Conference, August 3. Read more ...

Six Lessons Emerge from the Legal Vortex

If you weren't available to "Ask Matt" about the subject at hand during his monthly webinars, you can still take advantage of the learning. Sessions expanding on topics from SAI Legal Services Director Matt Carver's monthly SAI Report Legal Vortex column are archived on this site. Check your knowledge of

• custody issues,
• school liability,
• bullying and harassment,
• residency and student enrollment,
• ballot and campaign ethics, and 
• the ethics and gift law

by viewing a webinar on the subject at any time. Each presentation averages 40 minutes, a small amount of time to reinforce your understanding of the topic.

Recent Graduate Survey Ideas

By using Google Forms, schools would be able to easily review post-graduate data and then have access to data for review. This would also allow current students access to recent graduates who have entered college or the world of work. The collaboration with these recent graduates could be extremely valuable.

What questions would you like to see on the survey?

Think about differentiating questions dependent upon the student's post graduate choice: community college, trade school, four-year college, military, world of work. What opinions and perspectives could we get from them that could help improve our current students' educational experiences?  

Please add your suggestions to the Google document linked here. You’ll have access to the suggestions through the document as well, and we’ll provide a Google form template for use once the survey has been developed. Watch this site and the SAI Report for further information.

Want to know how you're doing? Ask your recent grads

Many Iowa administrators have had the opportunity to hear Tony Wagner speak at various conferences during which he urges the educational community to 

1. look at how well we’re preparing our students for 21st century skills; and 

2. ask our most recent graduates for their perspectives on that issue. 

   Here’s an option for hosting a conversation, given the time-sensitive nature of this opportunity. It's a protocol you can use that includes sample questions and is offered as a way to get the discussion started. You’ll likely be able to improve upon the questions provided. If you choose to use it, we’d love to hear the results.