Soft Skills

Plymouth High School evaluates students on their soft skills, in an effort to better prepare them for higher education, employment, and society in general.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What are soft skills?

Soft skills are non-academic skills that increasingly are seen as valuable by employers, college admissions officials, and scholarship award committees.

How are soft skills evaluated?

PHS teachers evaluate three soft skills, using a shared rubric that outlines expectations:

Collaboration
  • An engaged team member
  • Provides thoughtful ideas in teams
  • Values and encourages team members
Respect
  • Listens to and accepts others
  • Contributes to a positive learning environment
  • Demonstrates kindness
Work habits
  • Completes tasks and meets deadlines
  • Arrives on time and prepared for class
  • Demonstrates initiative and perseverance
  • Engages in learning activities

Student are evaluated in each class on each of the soft skills using a three-point scale:
3 - Consistently demonstrates skill
2 - Inconsistently demonstrates skill
1 - Rarely (if ever) demonstrates skill

Students receive quarterly measures of their progress, alongside the academic grades on their report cards.

How are the measures used?

The measures are discussed along with academic grades at PEP Talks (the series of individualized discussions involving a student, his or her parents, and a counselor focused on preparing the student for the future).

The soft-skill measures do not appear on official transcripts, so it is up to students to share the information with potential employers, admissions counselors, and scholarship award committees.

poster of PHS Soft Skills rubric, featuring measures for collaboration, respect and work habits