Background on NGEI Rubrics
The NGEI grant required that each participating campus select an observational rubric that would measure its prioritized skills and be used for multiple purposes, including: measuring individual candidate proficiency on particular skills; providing a common language among candidates, feedback providers, and faculty; identifying candidates in need of targeted support or who may need to be counseled out of the program; and measuring, in the aggregate, how well a program was preparing a group of candidates to enact particular skills.
At most NGEI campuses, the rubric components became the common language that stakeholders used to discuss what was important for candidates to learn, and provided a focus for mentor teacher and supervisor training. Since the rubric was such a pivotal lever for shifting toward a more clinically oriented approach, it was important that campuses be intentional with selection. During the selection process, campuses prioritized ensuring that the rubric: was well aligned to the prioritized skills, and provided valid and reliable measures. (Torre Gibney et al. 2020)