Literacy coaches play a key role in mentoring instructors and helping them develop strategies to close student achievement gaps. Serving in this educational profession can be a highly fulfilling venture for candidates interested in supporting student learning and identifying methods for teaching literacy. With this, if you’re a prospective literacy coach facing an upcoming interview, reviewing various questions you might encounter can help you prepare. In this article, we outline 65 common interview questions for literacy coaches, including five with explanations of why hiring managers ask them, instructions on how to respond and effective example responses.
- What is your greatest strength as a professional?
- How would your previous supervisor describe you?
- Do you prefer to work independently or as a part of a team?
- What is your ideal work environment?
- What are your salary expectations for this role?
How to Prepare for an Instructional Coach Interview
If you noticed a teacher under your supervision was underperforming, how would you take corrective action?
Literacy coaches are typically responsible for mentoring instructors and monitoring their performance to ensure that theyre accomplishing goals and meeting student needs. Because of this, as a literacy coach, you may have to take corrective action against any teacher that struggles with meeting expectations. An interviewer may ask you this question to evaluate your ability to supervise, lead and support teachers in achieving professional growth. In your answer, describe how youd follow school policy for corrective action and implement a disciplinary program to help the teacher in question improve their performance.
Example: “As a literacy coach, I know its important to hold my teachers to high standards and ensure theyre meeting expectations on a regular basis. This helps us both serve students better and close achievement gaps. If I noticed a teacher under my supervision was underperforming, Id make sure to follow school policy for corrective action and implement a disciplinary schedule to help maximize the teachers development over a specific period. For example, I may require the teacher to meet with me more frequently and ask them to submit records of their efforts to keep them accountable.”
How do you plan to balance collaborative efforts and independent work efficiently as a literacy coach?
Literacy coaches often work in a leadership capacity that demands both collaborative and independent work. For example, in this role, you may need to work alongside teachers to generate solutions to the issues theyre facing while also handling your own day-to-day tasks like records management, instructional design and data monitoring. Therefore, an interviewer may ask you this question to determine whether youre capable of handling a multifaceted role with such a wide scope of responsibilities. In your answer, describe your strong commitment to the roles goals and the organizational tools you plan to use to prioritize your workflow.
Example: “I know that literacy coaches assume a wide scope of responsibilities and this role requires a professional with a unique work style. I have a strong commitment to balancing both collaborative and independent work so I can coach teachers and help meet the needs of students. I use various organizational tools to manage my workflow and ensure that Im prioritizing the right tasks at the right time. For instance, I use an integrated calendar and a workflow management application on all my devices, which allows me to schedule tasks, coordinate meetings and set reminders accordingly to avoid missing anything.”
How do you maintain healthy relationships with the teachers under your supervision?
As stated above, its vital for literacy coaches to maintain healthy and respectful working relationships with the teachers under their supervision. These types of relationships often allow literacy coaches to achieve their goals more efficiently and work successfully in a collaborative capacity. With this, an interviewer may ask you this question to gauge your ability to bond as peers with educators, understand their unique needs and support them as they progress. In your answer, describe your approach to team building and how you plan on soliciting feedback from teachers to ensure youre meeting their expectations.
Example: “I believe that building a strong team of educators who can trust each other, collaborate with one another respectfully and approach complex problems with camaraderie is an essential part of serving as a literacy coach. To do this, I typically begin team building during the summer months before school starts so everyone can get to know each other without the pressure of a school environment. In addition, soliciting feedback helps me understand my performance and meet expectations. Therefore, I collect anonymous surveys from at five intervals throughout the school year to gain perspective and better provide support.”
20 in-depth questions
Here are 20 in-depth questions literacy coaching candidates may encounter in their interview:
9. Do you have any questions for us? This is a moment when you can regroup if you might have stumbled in a previous question; clarify or add to points you made. Remember, you are interviewing your interviewers too! Make sure you feel like this is the right place for you. My number one walk-away question is “If I were to be in this role, what is your top suggestion for me to be successful?” Place yourself in the interviewer role. Listen. Reiterate how you are the right person for the job, and share your excitement about the next steps in the process.
Reflect on your mindset. Say goodbye to that negative self-talk. List out the numerous experiences you bring to this position as well as your skill set. Don’t compare yourself to others—you’re unique, and you know in your gut that you’re ready, so believe in yourself. Now that your head is in the game, let’s move forward.
Although you might be nervous, it’s important to be confident when you’re talking about yourself. Instead of telling yourself to stay calm, try to get excited! Natalia Autenrieth refers to this as cognitive reappraisal—excitement and anxiety, on the physiological level, are the same emotion. Shift that nervous energy into excitement.
5. How might you build a foundation of trust in relationships with teachers? Trust is everything. It means that your coaching relationship maintains mutual confidentiality. It means showing up and being present and genuinely wanting to help teachers improve their teaching practice. Remember: To build and maintain strong relationships with teachers, go slow to go fast, listen for the request in the complaint, assume positive intentions, and employ effective listening.
First, though, you should ask yourself, is your mindset ready—really ready? The idea of leaving the classroom can be stressful, exciting, and, for some, filled with guilt. Are you ready to step into that interview with confidence that you are the right person for the role?
Share with Us Your Greatest Achievements
The interviewer wants to know what you have achieved in previous roles. He wants to see if you can contribute to the growth of the School.
Sample Answer
“My most outstanding achievement was when I motivated teachers in my previous school, and their performance improved. We made a plan, set goals, and ensured that we achieved them, which boosted our team’s morale. We also made the children understand what they should write about in their speech or speech-opinion notebooks by showing them examples of previous students’ work.
I trained all my staff on how they can teach students how to overcome their learning challenges. I also managed to enhance the students’ performance by providing them with extra reading and writing activities and making them read more books. That raised their Reading and English scores by 2 –3 Grades.”
Why are You Interested in This Role?
The interviewer intends to know why you want the position. Show them your desires in the role and explain how you can improve the teacher’s performance.
Sample Answer
“I love doing this work because it creates an opportunity for me to work with students to become meaningful people in society. I researched your school profile, and I realized that you offer maximum support to your employees, which would mean a lot to me.
I will make sure that the teachers develop all necessary skills required to teach students effectively and assist them as readers and writers and their English-speaking skills. I will also share my experience with my colleagues to improve their skills and become better teachers.”
FAQ
What makes a good literacy coach?
Why do you want to be a literacy coach?
How do I prepare for an instructional coach interview?
- What is your vision for this role? …
- What do you think the biggest challenge will be in this role? …
- How would you build relationships and trust with teachers? …
- What do you see as your daily responsibilities as a coach? …
- How would you handle pushback from teachers?
What questions will I be asked in a coaching interview?
- Why did you want to become a coach? …
- Can you describe what a typical practice looks like for your teams? …
- What are your core values as a coach? …
- How do you view the relationship between academics and athletics? …
- How will you develop community support for the team?
