Using interviews to predict the success of teacher-education students

In November 1987, the School of Education at the University of Tasmania at Launceston (then the Tasmanian State Institute of Technology) commenced a programme of pre-entry assessment of BEd applicants with a view to conducting an ongoing research programme aimed at improving the quality of trainee teachers. Pre-entry data gathering included English and mathematics skills, learning style, Higher School Certificate (HSC) aggregate scores and interview assessments of each applicant by a panel of at least two academic staff of the School. This paper reports findings from the interview data gathered on students who entered the BEd programme in 1989. In particular, the evidence from this cohort of students suggests that interview ratings by academic staff are successful predictors of future practice-teaching performance, whereas HSC aggregate scores are not at all predictive. In addition to this finding, the data indicate that staff interview assessments are only marginally weaker than HSC aggregate scores as predictors of academic performance on the BEd course. © 1995, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.