Reassure your interviewer that everything you do ties into standards. Be sure the lesson plans in your portfolio have the state standards typed right on them. When they ask about them, pull out your lesson and show them the close ties between your teaching and the standards.

Be sure you know the names of the standardized assessment tests. Talk about your experiences preparing students. You'll get bonus points if you know and describe the format of the test because that will prove your familiarity.

Briefly describe/enumerate your discipline philosophy. Example: You use lots of positive reinforcement. You are firm, but you don't yell. You have appropriate consequences for inappropriate behavior. You adhere to the school's guidelines.

This question will come up at almost every elementary school interview. It's fairly common in the middle school and high school as well. You might have a weekly parent newsletter that you send home each week. You may require students to have an assignment book that has to be signed each night.  When there are discipline problems you call home and talk to parents.

The interviewer who asks this question wants to discover if you are flexible, enjoy working in a team environment, have experience in this area, and what your viewpoints are on the subject.

The interviewer is attempting to assess if you understand what traits contribute to the success of a principal. As a teacher, what traits do you value most.