PK-16
How many skills does it cover?
24 durable skills, organized into four clusters.
Does the DAG include a scoring tool for evaluating learners at each grade level, or a reference for typical skill growth patterns?
A reference. The guide states plainly that these are illustrative patterns and not checklists, and that learners may sit in lower or higher developmental levels than their grade band suggests.
How many developmental indicators are there?
360 behavioral indicators, across five developmental levels.
What does each grade band include?
Common expressions of the skill at that stage, an "important to understand" note on what is and is not developmentally accessible, and look-fors.
Why did we create the PK-16 framework?
The Early Career Performance Rubric established the standard for what durable skills look like in early-career contexts. The PK-16 work answers a different question: what does the developmental trajectory to those competencies look like, starting in pre-kindergarten?
The DAG covers this age or grade span, and this is why it does not start at kindergarten.
PK through postsecondary. The original scope was K-12 and was expanded on expert feedback that meaningful skill development begins before kindergarten and continues well past high school.
How is it different from the DAG?
The Progression is the licensable architecture: 24 skills, four clusters, an age-agnostic five-level continuum, 360 indicators. It is built for curriculum developers, assessment providers, PD organizations, and other institutional partners building tools and systems on top of durable skills. The DAG is its free, open-source practitioner-facing complement, translating that same logic into guidance for educators, program leaders, and parents.
What two tables does each skill include that help teachers embed these skills in their lessons?
"Designing Experiences That Support [Skill]" and "Common Pitfalls."
How is it different from the ECPR?
The Rubric describes how 74 subskills are demonstrated by an early-career professional across four proficiency levels, and it is built to evaluate people with roughly a year or less of work experience. The Progression describes how 24 skills develop across five age-agnostic levels from early childhood forward. One is a standard for judging demonstrated performance. The other describes how someone gets there.
What is the difference between the forward and reverse crosswalk?
The forward crosswalk is organized by Early Career subskill and lists three to five priority-ranked PK-16 investments with a rationale for each. It answers: what should learners develop so they can demonstrate this skill well at work? The reverse crosswalk is organized by PK-16 skill and shows every Early Career subskill it feeds into. It answers: which workplace capabilities does investing in this one skill pay into?