Learning progressions define a pathway, thoughtfully charted, which students move along, step-by-step, through states of increasing confidence and competence. Learning progressions describe a ladder, the rungs of which are climbed with increasing strength and understanding of the importance and interconnectivity of the rungs below, the rungs ahead, the rung that is being held. Every step or rung is an incremental progression. Learning progressions accept that young learners build foundational skills, one micro-skill, concept, application, etc. at a time. Learning progressions are important because no one learns to read without first learning an alphabet and sounds. Once letters and corresponding sounds are learned, words can be formed based on those letters and sounds. In writing and orally, the words gather to translate thoughts into sequences that may become phrases or clauses, then sentences. Paragraphs are built with sentences that share a common theme or work to prove a point. Paragraphs may be built into essays, stories, emails, reports, novels, thesis proposals, dissertations, manifestos, lectures, journal entries. My group discussed the importance of baby steps, little steps the step-by step approach to building foundational skills in young learners. We discussed the steps taken in developing literacy, the exercises, games, and assignments that build language from sounds into words into ideas, into phrases and clauses into sentences into paragraphs and, ultimately into the documents that lead to effective self-expression, individual and communal utility, and academic success.
Sources that I have read
https://news.ets.org/stories/what-are-learning-progressions-and-why-are-they-important/
https://www.renaissance.com/products/star-assessments/learning-progressions/
