Essentials Skills and Dispositions/Soft Skills

CRTC Director Steve Rothenberg

This summer a team of CRTC teachers took a course on Essential Skills and Dispositions.  The course is part of the state’s competency driven PACE initiative.  The course was energizing.

To step back and provide a context: The major focus of the PACE effort is to create deeper and more authentic assessments to measure student’s progress.  In particular to measure it on a statewide basis in a normalized manner, without traditional standardized test.  Concord High’s Science and English Department have been working with other a number of select districts to get these new assessments off the ground.

The other emerging side of PACE is focused on looking at a set of core inter- and intra-personal skills displayed by students.  The focus of the course, sponsored by PACE was a framework with four proposed essentials skills and dispositions: Collaboration, Communication, Self-Direction and Creativity which, at their core, would be used to define college and career readiness.  

What we know is that measuring (and teaching) these skills is hard.  What we anecdotally is that students who possess these type of qualities, DO WELL.

As I have mentioned in past articles, the CRTC has been measuring soft (employability) skills, those traits valued by our industry and college partners for eight years. We are leaders in the state in this particular area.  As part of our own SPUR process, students meet with their teacher every quarter in private meeting to reflect on their growth.  Based on the course as well as some adjustments needed (grade inflation), we have evolved this year’s version of the CRTC Soft Skill Rubric considerably from last year’s version.

The rubric is split in the middle.  Achieving what is outlined on the right side would be considered adequate, a “2” in our 1-4 system.  Students are expected to reach into the left side which would move them into a 3 or 4 rating in our system.  The major element we did not include is “creativity” which we are going to focus on this year as part of our professional growth.  Feel free to contact me with questions.


CRTC Quick News:
We have a seven open seats in the CRTC in programs where CHS sophomores can also be accepted: Teacher Preparation (1), Cosmetology (1), Health Science (1), Culinary Arts and Baking (3), and Construction Trades (1).  Students must be in good standing and have demonstrated readiness.  Contact our office immediately at info@thecrtc.net, 717-7654 if your child is interested.