The goal of the Behavior Event Interview (BEI) process is to capture and understand in detail how principals, assistant principals and teacher leaders perform various aspects of their work to assess readiness for the work of a turnaround principal or teacher leader.
Turnaround leader and teacher competencies stem from extensive research of the best known, measurable distinguishers between very high performers and more typical or low performing leaders in a turnaround setting. Within a turnaround situation where failure has become an entrenched way of life for students and staff, leaders need stronger and more consistent habits in these critical areas to transform the school for learning success (Public Impact, 2008).
Competencies or habitual patterns of behaving and thinking are key predictors of how someone will perform at work. In a traditional interview process, the candidates share in generalities what they think they should or would do rather than how they actually do their work. The BEI asks candidates to describe detailed actions and thinking in their past work events. Knowing what candidates have done to achieve success at work is a strong predictor of how they will seek success at work in the future. (Public Impact, Turnaround Leaders Competency Selection Toolkit, 2008)