Learning Progressions

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Why it works

A learning progression is a research-informed map of how understanding of a concept or skill typically develops over time, the ordered waypoints learners usually pass through on the way from naive early ideas to sophisticated mastery, including the common partial understandings and misconceptions along the way. It is different from a list of standards, which states endpoints, and from a proficiency scale, which describes levels of mastery of one standard; a progression describes the developmental path itself, often across a stretch of time or grades. Progressions are powerful for formative assessment because they turn 'did the student get it or not' into a far more useful question: where on the path is this learner, and what is the next step that moves them forward. That reframing changes everything downstream. It lets a teacher interpret student work diagnostically, a particular error is not just wrong but a recognizable waypoint that tells you what the student does understand and what comes next. It makes feedback and next instruction precise, because the progression names the immediate next move rather than a distant endpoint. And it helps teachers see partial progress as real progress, which matters enormously for learners who are far from the standard. Teachers do not usually have to build progressions from scratch, many exist in the research and in standards documents for key skills, so much of the work is learning to use them: locating students on the progression from evidence, and planning instruction and feedback aimed at the next waypoint rather than the far endpoint. The workshop helps teachers take a progression for a skill they teach, practice placing real student work on it, and use that placement to decide what to teach next.

The research: Research on learning progressions and formative assessment interpretation.

The run-of-show

Choose your slot. The agenda, timings, and length update to match.

The core activity: place learners and name the next step

The heart of the session is using a progression for a real skill to locate learners and decide what to teach next.

Take a research-informed progression for a key skill you teach, rather than building one from scratch.
Place real student work on the progression, reading errors as recognizable waypoints, not just as wrong.
Name the immediate next step for each learner, the next waypoint, not the distant endpoint.
Use the placement to aim feedback and next instruction precisely, and to see partial progress as real progress.

Where on the path, and what nextA learning progression maps how a skill develops, so formative assessment becomes a question of where a learner is and what the next step is. Errors become waypoints that tell you what to teach next. Partial progress counts as progress.

Facilitator notes

Distinguish a progression from a standard (an endpoint) and a scale (levels of one standard); it is the developmental path.
Read errors diagnostically; a specific mistake is often a known waypoint, not just a wrong answer.
Aim at the next waypoint; feedback toward a far endpoint overwhelms a learner who is early on the path.

Pass-or-fail hides what to do next'Not yet' tells you nothing actionable. A progression turns it into a location and a next step, which is what makes formative assessment actually formative.

Adapt it

Elementary: progressions for early reading and number are well-mapped; use them to pinpoint next steps.
Secondary: use discipline progressions (argument, proportional reasoning) to read partial understanding.
Any setting: look for existing progressions in standards and research before writing your own.

Participant handout

One page for every teacher. Print it, or save it as a PDF.

K12 Academics · Professional Learning

Learning Progressions: locate the learner, teach the next step

The path, not the endpoint: take a progression, place work on it, read errors as waypoints, and aim next instruction precisely.

The skill and the progression I will use:
Where a real student sits on the path:
The error read as a waypoint:
The immediate next step for that learner:
How I aim feedback at the next waypoint:

Make it stick

Progressions work once reading them is routine. Close by setting the follow-up:

Name a check-in: are you placing learners and teaching precise next steps?
Bring one error you read as a waypoint.
Keep aiming at the next step, so partial progress stays visible and valued.

Common questions

How is a learning progression different from a proficiency scale or a standard?

A standard states an endpoint; a proficiency scale describes levels of mastery of one standard; a learning progression maps the developmental path itself, the ordered waypoints and common partial understandings a learner passes through over time, often across grades. The progression is what lets you locate a learner mid-path and name the next step, rather than just judging against the endpoint.

Do I have to build these myself?

Usually not. Research-informed progressions exist for many key skills, in the literature and embedded in standards documents, especially for early reading, number, and core disciplinary reasoning. Most of the work is learning to use an existing progression: placing student work on it from evidence and planning the next step. Build your own only where none exists for a skill that matters.

How does this change what I do with a wrong answer?

It turns a wrong answer into information. On a progression, a particular error is often a recognizable waypoint that tells you what the student does understand and what comes next, rather than simply 'not there yet.' You read the work diagnostically, locate the learner, and aim your feedback and next teaching at the immediate next step, which is far more useful than marking it wrong.