By Barbara Frey, Principal of Colorado Connections schools How do you find the right teacher to hire for your school? Communication becomes one of the most important skills to the educator in an e-learning environment because of high levels of parental involvement and reliance on both written and oral communication via email and telephone. The challenge for the virtual administrator is to determine if the teacher you’re hiring has the right communication style for the unique setting that is a virtual school. There are two interview techniques that can help determine if skills from the interview can transfer to the virtual school environment. Ask potential candidates a variety of “what if†questions, creating a scenario that measures their ability to think on their feet during a phone conference and to respond to the parent in a professional manner. Next, give the candidate samples of student writing and ask him/her to create an email to the student and the learning coach, assessing the student’s strengths and weakness. Review the candidate’s email evaluating his or her ability to communicate in a clear and concise manner.
