145Preservice teachers reported using the rubric as a checkpoint to ensure they
addressed all of the requirements and confirm their self-assessment of their practice
with their supervisors.
Compared to previous years, and as a result of using the rubric, school coordina-
tors reported that they observed a decrease in the frequency of platitudinous com-
ments made by supervising teachers related to preservice teachers’ performance in
the interim and final reports. They also reported they were able to identify the devel-
opmental needs of preservice teachers earlier in the professional experience place-
ment and direct the preservice teachers to appropriate resources. Additionally, both
supervising teachers and school coordinators reported that as a result of using the
rubric, preservice teachers were able to engage in professional conversations about
their strengths and areas of focus for their development.
Fourth-year preservice teachers reported they felt their supervising teachers and
teacher educators were able to engage in more informative and concise conversa-
tions because they were focused on the same focus area descriptors. Some third- and
fourth-year preservice teachers noted that some supervising teachers were reluctant
to refer to the rubric as they were unfamiliar with the APST. A similar problem was
described by Jonsson and Mattsson ( 2011 ) where preservice teacher competency
was not recognised in the rubric resulting in its nonuse. This points to a need to
improve the validity and reliability of the rubric by providing more implementation
support focused on establishing common understandings about the concepts related
to the generic descriptors, as well as strategies for how to use the rubric to assist
preservice teachers set professional development goals and track their development
through the provision of nuanced feedback.
Conversations of Self-Regulation and Agentic Learning
An important goal underpinning the rubric was that preservice teachers would
become agents of their own learning whilst in the school environment, in other
words, self-regulated learners. Characteristics of these learners include self-
assessment and goal setting. The majority of teacher educators, supervising teach-
ers, school coordinators and preservice teachers agreed or strongly agreed that the
rubric and self-assessment and goal-setting processes assisted preservice teachers to
confront challenges, set themselves new learning goals as well as self-assess their
progress towards the graduate level of the APST (see Tables 9.4 and 9.5).
Goal Setting
A noteworthy 30.7% (n = 7) of fourth-year preservice teachers indicated they did
not believe that the rubric would assist them in goal setting. This less than affirming
outcome could be attributed to the fact that these participants were the first to use
the new rubric and assessment processes and had less preparation for its use than
9 Using a Developmental Assessment Rubric to Revitalise Stakeholder Conversations...