The reliability of building administrators' and special education administrators' ratings of special education teacher applicants using an Interactive Computerized Interview System

The purpose of this study was to determine whether special education and general education building-level administrators can reliably rate the answers and overall quality of a special education teacher based on a structured interview using a special education teacher version of the Interactive Computer Interview System (ICIS). Twenty-two general education administrators and 22 special education administrators were participants in this study to determine if there was a statistical difference, or bias, between the ratings of interview quality of special education teachers using the ICIS-Special Education (ICIS-SPED) when rated by a public school special education administrator compared to that of a public school general education building-level administrator.; Study participants completed a specially created version of the ICIS Interview Training System for Special Education rating a random sampling of candidate responses to specific interview questions related to special education content. The interview program is designed to generate a balanced sampling of 1, 2, and 3 level responses, presented in random order. Administrators listened to the interviewer asking the question while watching a video of the candidate on the computer screen. Next to the candidate on the screen are rubrics of responses, with indicators of the qualities for each level of response. While seeing and hearing the candidate, data regarding the interview questions randomly presented to the participant, the answer provided by the participant and the anticipated correct answer to the question were collected.; Statistical analysis indicated that there was not significant difference between the two groups of administrators (general education building-based or special education administrators) on their scoring of the interviewee's responses.; These results suggest that both types of administrators can reliably rate the answers and overall quality of special education applicants. The ability of such holds promise for an increased efficiency and knowledge of quality special education applicants when making hiring decisions.