
Interviewing Peer Leaders: Inter-Reliability of a Growth-Oriented Selection Rubric
Abstract
Peer leaders are student employees selected by program administrators in higher education to support their fellow classmates and peers in college. This study evaluated the inter-reliability of a selection rubric used by raters during group interviews for a peer leader program, Supplemental Instruction (SI), that maintains a team of over 60 peer leaders each semester. Results confirm that the rubric possesses a substantial degree of reliability, with an overall average agreement percentage of 88%. Researchers discuss reasons for this statistically significant result, including effective and theory-based processes, thorough training, and openness to change and growth. Implications include more emphasis on educators’ process in creating assessment tools, including rubrics, and validation of other selection tools presently used in the field of higher education to determine students’ eligibility for peer leadership roles.
© 2026 Jillian P. Rager, Jaime S. Miller, Joseph M. Kush, Deidre Leslie, Ashley C. Carr, published by Virginia Tech Publishing
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.