Interview guide for school administrators: a loop for principals and assistant principals

A principal shapes what happens in every classroom in the building, mostly through other people. They hire and develop teachers, decide where scarce minutes and dollars go, handle discipline that has gone past the classroom, and are the person parents call when something goes wrong. That makes a principal interview hard to run well: candidates are practiced at describing their vision, and panels reward the most fluent speaker. What predicts success is narrower and observable: whether the candidate can see good instruction and help a teacher improve, read school data and pick the right problem, handle a conflict with a family, and protect students in the decisions they make. This guide gives districts and search committees a loop for principals and assistant principals, with adjustments for district office and charter roles at the end.

The first months after hire are in the 30-60-90 day plan for school principals. Teacher hiring has its own interview guide for teachers, and the general approach to hiring someone who manages managers is in the interview guide for people managers. This page is about the building leader.

The loop at a glance

Stages 2 to 5 fit in a finalist day. Hiring for July means finalists in spring, so build the timeline backwards from when the best assistant principals are being promoted elsewhere.

Stage 1: screening interview (30 minutes)

1. "Tell me about the school you lead or help lead now: size, students, results and what has changed under you." Listen for: specific numbers and their own role in the change, not the district's.
2. "What did you stop doing at your school, and why?" Listen for: deliberate trade-offs. Leaders who only add initiatives exhaust staff.
3. "Tell me about a teacher you helped improve and one you helped leave the profession or the school." Listen for: a clear process, evidence and respect in both stories.
4. "Why this school, at this stage?" Listen for: knowledge of the school's actual data and community, not a generic answer.

Stage 2: the lesson observation debrief (45 minutes)

This is the most predictive stage for a principal and the one most worth preparing well.

• Setup: a recorded lesson of 15 to 20 minutes, with the teacher's consent to use it, showing a mixed lesson: some strong moves and one or two clear gaps, such as low student talk or a check for understanding that does not check anything.
• Prep: the candidate watches and takes notes for 20 minutes.
• Debrief: a teacher on the panel plays the teacher in the video for 15 minutes. The candidate leads the feedback conversation.
• Reflection: 10 minutes on what they would look for in the next visit.

What to score

• Seeing: notices the gaps that matter most for student learning, backed by evidence from the video.
• Prioritizing: picks one or two changes, not ten.
• Delivering: asks the teacher questions, names strengths specifically, agrees a concrete next step and a date to check it.
• Tone: the teacher on the panel would want another conversation with this person.

Stage 3: the data and planning task (60 minutes)

Give a packet of anonymized or invented data for a school like yours: example state assessment results by grade and student group, attendance, discipline referrals by month and staff turnover. Label it as example data. The candidate has 30 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to present.

Ask three questions: what are the two most important problems, what would you do in the first 90 days, and what would you not do yet? Score whether the candidate reads the data accurately, looks for causes rather than jumping to programs, notices gaps between student groups, and makes a plan that a staff could carry out alongside everything else. Penalize slides full of initiatives with no owner.

Stage 4: panel interview (45 minutes)

Each panel member owns one or two questions and scores only their competency.

1. Teacher: "How do you protect teachers' time? Give me an example of a meeting or task you removed."
2. Teacher: "A student has been sent out of the same class four times this month. What do you do?" Listen for: supporting the student and the teacher, looking for the cause, and consistent consequences applied fairly.
3. Staff member: "How do you make decisions that affect the front office, custodians or paraprofessionals?" Listen for: asking them first.
4. Parent: "How would I find out what is happening at the school, and how would you respond if I disagreed with a decision?"
5. District leader: "A staff member tells you a colleague has been messaging a student privately on social media. Walk me through the next hour." Listen for: student safety first, following mandated reporting law and district policy, involving HR, documenting, and not investigating alone or warning the colleague.

Stage 5: parent conflict role-play (15 minutes)

The district leader plays a parent whose child was suspended for a fight. The parent says the other child started it, that the school never protects their child, and that they are going to the school board. Score whether the candidate listens without interrupting, explains the decision and the process clearly, does not discuss the other student, offers a concrete next step such as a re-entry meeting, and stays courteous without giving up a fair decision under pressure.

Scorecard competencies and weights

Example weights for a principal. Lock yours before the first candidate.

For assistant principals, move weight from data and planning to discipline, operations and feedback. How to combine panel scores without one voice dominating is in the weighted interview scorecard.

Legal points to check

Checked against the linked primary sources as of October 2026. Not legal advice; state education law, board policy and district counsel decide.

• Administrator credential. States set these. In California, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing says the Administrative Services Credential authorizes services such as evaluating and supervising staff in grades 12 and below, and the preliminary credential requires five years of full-time experience, with a clear credential after two years of administrative experience and an induction program. Check your state's licensing agency and whether the posting allows a candidate who is still completing requirements.
• Passing-the-trash rules. Under 20 U.S.C. 7926, states and federally funded districts must have laws, regulations or policies that prohibit helping a school employee get a new job when the person knows or has probable cause to believe that employee engaged in sexual misconduct with a student or minor in violation of law, with limited exceptions. Principals both hire and write references, so ask how the candidate handles both.
• Employment history review. Some states require more. Pennsylvania's Act 168 requires applicants for positions with direct contact with children to complete a sexual misconduct and abuse disclosure release for current and certain former employers, who have 20 days to respond; provisional employment is allowed for up to 90 days under conditions.
• Background checks. States set fingerprint requirements for school employees. If a consumer reporting agency also runs a check, 15 U.S.C. 1681b(b) applies; see the FCRA background check process.
• Panel conduct. Parent and staff panelists need the same briefing as everyone else: no questions about age, family plans, religion or health, and scores tied to the agreed competencies.

The decision rule

1. Gates: credential held or eligible as posted; history checks complete or in a lawful provisional status.
2. Floor: at least 3 on the observation debrief; a principal who cannot improve teaching cannot improve the school.
3. Weighted total: in this example, 3.0 or higher on a 1–4 scale goes to the superintendent.
4. References: include a supervisor and a teacher who worked for the candidate. The reference call script keeps questions consistent.

Adjusting the loop

Mistakes that weaken principal searches

• Hiring the best speech. The observation debrief tests the work; the vision statement tests rehearsal.
• Panel without a scorecard. Untrained panels score likability.
• Neutral references only. Ask a specific question about student safety decisions and how the candidate handled staff misconduct.
• Starting in May. Strong candidates are committed by then.