The skills expected in the tenth-grade classroom I am working with are the ability to think critically, creatively, communicate, collaborate, and citizenship. The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE)  calls these skills, or competencies, the “Five C’s.” The skills the students are developing are provided by their respective Virginian schools through a focus on promoting their readiness in college, career, and civil life. On the VDOE website, a page titled, “2017 SOA: Graduation Requirements (Class of 2022)”, explains in the subcategory ‘Career Exploration and Planning’ that school divisions must provide opportunities for students to learn about career options in their respective communities and workplace expectations. VDOE explains, “While there is no specific career-related activity that a student must experience (such as an internship or job-shadowing assignment) to earn a diploma, school divisions must provide opportunities for students to learn about workplace expectations and career options in their own communities and elsewhere”( VDOE). These skills, the Five C’s, contribute to a learning culture based on work or service-learning programs to promote the students’ college, career, and civic readiness. According to the VDOE,  “… schools to expand work-based and service-learning programs that promote college, career and civic readiness” ( VDOE). The skills contribute to a learning culture that respects students will be citizens in their communities. By exposing and teaching students how the skills they develop and their school curriculum apply to their communities and potential jobs, students are learning how to be active and participatory members of their community. The Five C’s present challenges for different learners who may struggle with mastering all of the competencies. For example, some students may struggle with their communication skills and ability to collaborate due to mental health issues or lack of social skills. Such a struggle raises the question of how one creates a curriculum that meets the VDOE’s standards and considers students of varying backgrounds and current skill levels. The VDOE’s response to the question posed is, ” In English writing, a student may verify course mastery through a locally develop performance based assessment”( VDOE). In response to the VDOE,  another question cannot help but be posed, since locally developed performance assessments asses the students; how do the VDOE asses different school division assessments meeting its standards?

During my visit to Rockbridge High School in a tenth-grade English classroom, I saw a lack of the Five C’s. The classroom was decorated with vibrant pastels, butterflies, and flowers. The students all sat up front with backpacks to the left of their desks. Despite the vibrant classroom, they all were quiet and seemed down. I noticed a conflict of citizenship in the classroom as one student was wearing a confederate flag sweater in the presence of three African American students. Such oppressive and derogatory clothing signaled to me that the students were not acting as citizens in the community of this particular tenth-grade classroom or of Rockbridge High School but as representatives of their communities at home. On this particular day, the students learned about independent and dependent clauses; however, instead of inviting students to communicate where they were having difficulties on the topic or express how they knew the topic, the teacher fed the students the lesson. The teacher lectured on the subject and, as a result, aroused no participation or forced participation. Therefore, I noticed a lack of communication and the failure to foster an environment of a collaborative classroom. In the last fifteen minutes of class, the teacher gave the students time to work on drafting an introduction to the essay between the two texts they had been reading. The teacher stated that if the students were diligent and quiet, they could have their quarterly movie day. The teacher did not seem comfortable with the students collaborating on creating an introduction that met the essay criteria she established. This is because the students quietly sat typing away on their Chromebooks for the remainder of class.

By: Kaylee Brennan

https://doe.virginia.gov/boe/accreditation/2017-grad-req.shtml