Sample Interview Questions

Sample interview questions for students, teachers, parents, staff, and community members to be used during stakeholder meetings and accreditation visits.

Student Interview Questions

1. What do you like best about your school?
2. What could be done to improve the school?
3. Do you feel you are learning?
4. What would you say to a student who was considering coming to this school?
5. What single word describes how you feel about your school?

Teacher Interview Questions

1. How are you involved with the decision-making process at the school?
2. Please provide examples of why you feel your school is meeting the academic, social and emotional needs of its students.
3. Describe how you work with other teachers on instructional planning and the monitoring of student achievement.
4. How are you involved with professional/staff development?
5. How do you involve parents in the education of their children?
6. How has the administration in this school provided the leadership for you to teach?
7. What single word describes how you feel about your school?

Parent Interview Questions

1. How would you describe the relationship between teachers and students?
2. How are parents involved with the decision-making processes of the school?
3. Please describe how this school helps students learn.
4. How does the school keep you informed about programs, activities, and the progress of your child?
5. What do you like best about this school?
6. What single word describes how you feel about your school?

Staff Interview Questions

1. What do you think the school is doing that helps students?
2. Do you think that students are learning? How do you know that?
3. Are you able to provide input or feedback for improving the school? In what ways?
4. Do you feel supported at this school?
5. What do you like best about this school?

Community Representative Interview Questions

1. What does the school do that makes it successful?
2. In what ways does the community support the school?
3. What is the reputation of the school as an educational institution?
4. What does the school need to do to continue to be successful?

Frequency of Response Questions
Ask the various stakeholder groups the same questions: essentially a SWOT analysis:

• What do you think are the strengths of your school?
• What do you think are the challenges facing the school?
• What do you think the school can do in the future to make the strengths even stronger?
• What do you think the school can do to overcome the challenges? Collect the responses from the various stakeholder groups and look for patterns based on the frequency of response.

Multiple Table Method

Using either the questions above or questions the team has decided on, divide the stakeholder groups into roughly even groups and distribute to the members of the visiting team. Each team member asks their group the same questions. Debrief with the entire visiting team and look for patterns of responses. This method creates a more intimate atmosphere and allows for more voices to be heard.