English Capstone Course
The College & Career Ready English Performance Expectations (PDF) define the content and level of achievement students must reach to be academically prepared for success in entry-level, credit-bearing English courses in college or career training. The English Capstone, built upon content found in the English Performance Expectations, contains high-interest contextualized content designed to give certain students an additional boost for competent and successful entry into college and careers. The course will add to students’ preparation for college and the workplace by:
- augmenting skills in critical reading, critical thinking, the fundamentals of academic and workplace writing including exposition, persuasion, and argumentation, and;
- enhancing skills in investigation, evaluation, and incorporation of appropriate resources; effective, career-ready communications including speaking, listening, and collaborating; and
- simultaneously reinforcing readiness skills and dispositions in adaptability and flexibility, creativity and innovation, leadership, team work, and work ethic.
English Capstone Course
The College & Career Ready English Capstone Course (PDF) is designed for high school seniors who:
- have satisfactorily completed the Standards of Learning English 11 course;
- have achieved at least minimum proficiency on both the end-of-course SOL English reading and writing assessments; and
- are college intending, but may not be fully college ready. The course may also support students who meet the same academic requirements but plan to enter the work force (prepared for further work force training) directly after graduating from high school.
Instructional Resources for Teachers
The content of the English Capstone course may be incorporated into any senior English class. The English Capstone course content and pilot courses were developed for teachers through a Title II, Part A grant awarded to the College of Williams and Mary and James Madison University.
- Toolbox for Replicating Professional Development to Support the Senior English Seminar Elective (Word)
Related Resources
- Grade 12 Capstone Course Content (PDF)
- College & Career Ready English Performance Expectations (PDF)
- Correlation of Virginia’s English Performance Expectations with Virginia’s 2010 English Standards of Learning (PDF)
- Comparison between Virginia’s College and Career Ready English Performance Expectations and the Common Core Anchor Standards (PDF)