SamTastic Weekly Tip: 7/6/26 - Can You Find Great Teachers?
- Jim Mercer
- 19 hours ago
- 2 min read
This week’s Tip: Can you find great teachers?
As June ends and July begins, most school and district leaders are spending a lot of time interviewing candidates for open teaching positions.
Mike Rutherford, RLG, has been a frequent presenter at national and regional SAM conferences. Mike believes that responses in formal interviews are often poor predictors of future job performance. He drafted twelve questions that might better predict an applicant’s likely teaching success and efficacy. Click for the printable PDF and what might be useful.
Another idea: Ask an applicant you are about to hire one more thing before making an offer: “Teach me how to do a two-digit multiplication problem.” It doesn’t make a difference if you are hiring for first grade or a 10th grade Social Studies, position. You will be able to tell within minutes if your applicant is the person you’d want in your school. I used this approach for years and found it quite illuminating.
Best for a SamTastic week,
Mark
Mark Shellinger, Director
National SAM Innovation Project
It is budget time in most schools and districts. Be sure to include your SAM services for the 2026-27 school year. You can request an early invoice now by using this link: https://bit.ly/40GtA33
Consider budgeting for the 20th Annual National SAM Conference, too. The conference provides an opportunity to learn from SAM teams across the US and an amazing array of national and international speakers, authors and thought leaders in leadership, education, and psychology.
20th Annual National SAM Conference announcement video: https://www.wevideo.com/view/4003300281
What does a SAM conference look like? https://bit.ly/4cxGEw7
Mission: Provide a comprehensive process and set of tools to develop effective instructional leaders resulting in greater student success.
Vision: Increase principal time spent improving teacher practice and student outcomes.
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