Hi Paris,
You are not alone in your caution; research and policy reviews have raised concerns that many higher education programs- even at the graduate-level- do not consistently and adequately prepare future educators in evidence-based literacy instructional practices. In response, the NCTQ (National Council on Teacher Quality) has published reviews of teacher prep programs that may be of interest to you. I do want to caution, however, that these reviews do not tell the whole story of any person’s learning trajectory, nor do they tell the whole story of the particular program. Please consider any program review only as one potential source for information about a candidate- and certainly not a decision-making factor!
Discrepancies in approaches to reading instruction and intervention are not a secret. She is likely to be just as curious or even cautious about your position on literacy practices as you are hers. To that end, try to view this discovery process as a conversation, rather than an interrogation.
You can, of course, ask what training and professional development she has received. With the understanding that some trainings might not have been elective, it might be helpful to ask follow-up questions, inquiring about how she liked them, what takeaways from any mentioned trainings she felt were most helpful towards her own practices, and so on. I would advise that you balance this topic by also asking about any independent study that she has taken part in. Self-learning via journal articles, books, podcasts, and conferences can also be transformative, so don’t limit your understanding of professional growth to only formal training.
Similarly, I would ask about what curricula or programs she has experience with. Again, I would temper any initial judgments on programs she has used in the past with the understanding that she likely did not have a choice in the materials she taught with in previous roles, and/or that she may have since acquired more learning that would now lead her to make a different program selection. Engage her in a dialogue about what aspects of the program(s) she liked, and which aspects she felt could have been stronger. I think this conversation will lead to valuable insights on her philosophy, as well as potentially her critical thinking and problem-solving skills. You can round this out with more open-ended questions about her previous experiences, like what kind of instructional targets she most often works on with students and what sorts of activities she finds most effective in developing those skills.
I’d also encourage you to truly try to engage with these questions as a conversation, rather than trying to elicit a checklist of buzzwords. We all have had individual learning journeys unique to us. I personally would value a passion for this field, for teaching students, and for continued self-growth and learning over any specific training she may or may not already come to the table with. What values does she bring that can’t be taught? Is she a team player? Is she ambitious? Curious? These are the types of traits that training can’t compensate for if missing.
Best of luck with the hiring process!
