Student Friendly

Progression
MeetingtheTarget
Icanprovideathemestatementthat
appliestothetext
Icanprovideanaccurateanalysisof
howtheauthordevelopedthattheme

Routines for Using

Learning Progressions

Creating
Learning

Explain them to students

Make them accessible to students

Progressions,

Begin and End lesson with a focus on

Learning Targets,

the learning goal target

During lesson relate instruction to the

and

target and/or scale

InProgress
Icanprovideathemestatementthat

Success Criteria

Have students use progression to

track progress & set goals

appliestothetextbutitmaynotbethe
mostappropriatetheme.
Icanprovidesomeanalysisofhowthe
authordevelopedthatthemebutitmay
bemissingsomeimportantpoints.

Benefits of Using
Learning Progressions
Educational GPS: Guides you through
lessons/units

WorkingonFoundations

Helps you answer the ?s: Where am I?

Icandefineorexplainthefollowing

Where am I going? How do I close the

wordswithoutlookingthemupor

gap?

askingforsomeonetohelpme:

Makes learning visible to students

theme,development,summary,plot,setting

Helps teachers more efficiently cover

Icanidentifyarelevantthemestatementfroma

content

list

Helps you analyze which assignments

Icanidentifysupportingdetailsforagiventheme

and activities do not align to the

statement

standard
Helps teachers & students give
specific feedback so everyone is
speaking the same language and
focused on the same standards
SourceMaterialforCreatingthisBrochure:
Moore,Carla,etal.CreatingandUsingLearningTargetsandPerformanceScales:How
TeachersMakeBetterInstructionalDecisions.LearningSciencesInternational,2015.

What are
Learning Progressions?
Learning Progressions...
Organize learning targets on a
continuum from simple to more
complex thinking
Outline how learning builds
toward mastery of the standard
Provide students with the
incremental expectations as they
work toward mastery
Are a tool for both students and
teachers that provide clarity of
what is being learned, and give
language for peer to peer, teacher
to student, and student to teacher
feedback

Step

Step

Unpack the Standard

Identify content knowledge needed
Identify the skills, processes, or strategies needed
Rule of Thumb:
*Look for content knowledge in the nouns of the standard
*Look for skills in the verbs of the standard (Bloom's words)

Create the Foundational

Targets - Level 3
Foundational Vocabulary: What vocabulary do
students need to know?
Consider both the content knowledge from the standard
and other knowledge students would need to understand

Example: CCSS ELA- Literacy 7.2

Determine a theme or central idea of a text and
analyze its development over the course of the text;
Provide an objective summary of the text.

Content
theme
development
summary

Example: CCSS ELA- Literacy 7.2

Students will recall specific vocabulary, including: theme,
development, summary, plot, setting

Skills
determine
analyze
provide

Step
Create the Learning Goal
Target - Level 4
Decide whether this standard needs to be
broken down into multiple learning targets
Maintain the level of cognitive demand
required by the standard
This target represents mastery

Foundational Skills: What skills need to have

been mastered in order to do the standard?
Review standards that precede this
standard in previous grade levels
Decide what students must know how to
do in order to do the standard
Consider misconceptions that students
often have with these skills & processes
Be careful to choose a reasonable amount
of foundational skills
Often the level of cognitive demand is
below that of the standard

Example: CCSS ELA- Literacy 7.2

Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its
development over the course of the text; provide an
objective summary of the text.

This standard has 3 learning goal targets

Analyze the development of the theme over the course of
the text
Determine the theme of a narrative text
Summarize of the text objectively

Choose target(s) for your progression

Example: CCSS ELA- Literacy 7.2

-Provide a summary of the text
-Identify supporting details
-Recognize theme or central idea

Step
Create a Cognitively
Complex Target - Level 5
These targets compel students to delve
more deeply into the content of the
standard
Consider how students might make
decisions, problem solve, experiment, or
investigate
Be careful not to confuse it with an
assignment or activity students will do, but
only what level of thinking will be evident
when students complete the assignment
Example: CCSS ELA- Literacy 7.2
-Evaluate the author's craft in developing the theme

Step
Create Success Criteria
The success criteria are written so that
students are demonstrating that they have
applied the learning target and are doing it
Use evidence tables (ELA) or performance
level descriptors (Math), or evidence
statements (NGSS) to help guide the
writing of your success criteria
Write in the form of "I can" statements for
students
They describe what is being looking for
when assessing whether or not students
have been successful in demonstrating
mastery of the standard