Recommended Usage

Rubric as an Assessment Tool

This preservice rubric is designed to formatively assess DLI teacher candidates’ classroom practices during practicum experiences and formal student teaching. It should be used in tandem with (not as a replacement for) a university-required general rubric for assessing preservice teacher performance. Before using the rubric as an assessment tool, there should be formal opportunities for teacher candidates to become familiar with and to practice the kinds of strategies and practices described in the rubric levels. Ideally, the rubric strands should be aligned with the content of the preservice teacher preparation program. Clinical supervisors and mentor teachers need to be very familiar with the practices described in the rubric to be able to give appropriate feedback.

The rubric is intended to be developmental and educative; ideally, teacher candidates will learn from interacting with the rubric.


Foundational uses

The rubric is best used as a diagnostic, reflective, and coaching tool to

  • build awareness of areas that need development,
  • acknowledge areas in a which a teacher candidate’s performance is emerging or developing, and
  • promote deeper understanding of contextual and possibly systemic elements that inhibit the enactment of effective DLI teaching and learning.
Preservice teacher observations

As a detailed and comprehensive assessment tool, this rubric is designed to be completed over time, with input and evidence from multiple student teaching observations.

A clinical supervisor or mentor teacher should not expect to see evidence for each sub-strand during one observation (or perhaps even for all descriptors within one sub-strand). It might therefore be appropriate for a supervisor or mentor teacher and teacher candidate to choose one or several sub-strands on which to focus for a period of time.

Examples of evidence that support a clinical supervisor’s and/or mentor teacher’s rating should be included in writing. (There is a section for including evidence after each sub-strand.) The rubric level descriptors can and should inform pre- and post-observation conferences between the teacher candidate and clinical supervisor or mentor teacher. There should be specific feedback on how a teacher candidate’s performance might improve from the Recognizing level to the Developing level, for example.

Feedback and guidance

At the end of the rubric are spaces for “summary of areas for future focus” and “other feedback”. Clinical supervisors and mentor teachers should use these sections to provide detailed, specific feedback and guidance for preservice teachers about how to improve their practice.

Expected levels

The Excelling level describes what experienced teachers should be able to do. We included this level in the preservice rubric so that teacher candidates can see how high quality practice is described. Nevertheless, preservice teacher candidates should not be expected to perform at this level. Instead, we anticipate that preservice teachers’ performance will be between the Recognizing and Developing levels throughout the teacher preparation program.