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Curriculum Progression – Build Questions Step by Step

Ever given a test where the first two questions stopped half the class? Often the issue isn’t what you asked — it’s when you asked it.

Good assessments, like good lessons, move in steps. They begin where students feel secure and then stretch them one small step further. This is the idea of curriculum progression: questions follow the same path that learning follows in your classroom.

If alignment sets the right target, progression charts the safest route to reach it.

When progression is designed well, assessments feel like staircases, not walls. Students build confidence, teachers see growth, and learning feels purposeful.

What Curriculum Progression Means

Progression means the order of questions follows the way understanding develops. At EBTD we use a simple five-step model:

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Step What it means Example (Science: Evaporation)
1. Recall Remember key facts or definitions. “What is evaporation?”
2. Understand Explain ideas in your own words. “Why does heat make water evaporate faster?”
3. Apply Use knowledge in a familiar situation. “Why do wet clothes dry faster on a sunny day?”
4. Reason Link causes and effects; justify thinking. “Why might a shaded plant dry more slowly?”
5. Transfer Use learning in a new or real-world context. “How does evaporation help animals keep cool?”

Why Progression Matters

  • Builds confidence — start where students can succeed, then climb.
  • Reveals thinking gaps — you can see where understanding breaks (between recall and reasoning, not just “right/wrong”).
  • Improves fairness — every learner can show partial understanding.
Plain-language research: jumping too fast overloads working memory (cognitive load). Small, planned challenges make learning stick (desirable difficulties). Sequenced questions help you adjust tomorrow’s lesson (formative assessment).

Active Ingredients of Progressive Assessment

In aligned assessment we focused on what to measure. In progressive assessment we focus on how far each question takes students. Every strong assessment follows five predictable steps of thinking: RecallUnderstandApplyReasonTransfer.

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Active Ingredient Teacher Self-Check Example from Practice
1. Clear Step Purpose
(Which stage does this question fit?)		 Can I name which of the five steps this question targets — Recall, Understand, Apply, Reason, or Transfer? Q1 Recall — “Define evaporation.”
Q2 Understand — “Explain why heat speeds it up.”
2. Gentle Growth
(Build from simple to deep)		 Do my questions climb one step at a time without big jumps? Q3 Apply — “Predict what happens if the air is humid.”
3. Single Cognitive Focus
(Avoid mixed demands)		 Does each question ask for one clear kind of thinking? Avoid mixing Recall + Evaluate in the same item.
4. Familiar Language, New Thinking
(Keep words steady, increase ideas)		 Are key terms the same ones students learnt, so difficulty comes from thinking — not wording? Repeat “evaporation” each time while the context changes.
5. Visible Transfer
(End with flexible use)		 Does the final question ask students to use learning in a new context? Q5 Transfer — “How does evaporation help animals stay cool?”
Quick audit: label each question R–U–A–R–T. If a step is missing, add a bridging question or reorder until the ladder feels smooth.

From Principle to Practice

Use this Question Ladder to design your next quiz:

  1. Start with the learning goal. What should students understand or be able to do?
  2. List the building blocks. What must they recall or explain first?
  3. Draft one question per step. Same core idea, deeper thinking each time.
  4. Keep language steady. Change ideas, not vocabulary.
  5. Test and adjust. Ask a colleague: does it feel like a climb?
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Step Focus Example Question
(Science: Heat Transfer)
Recall Definition “What is conduction?”
Understand Comparison “How is conduction different from convection?”
Apply Everyday use “Why does metal feel cold to touch?”
Reason Cause & effect “Why does a saucepan handle get hot?”
Transfer Design task “How could you reduce heat loss in a home?”

Worked Example — A Teacher’s Thought Process

Ms Amin, a science teacher in Dhaka, reviewed her Year 8 quiz on evaporation. She labelled each question R–U–A–R–T. Two questions were both “reasoning,” and none asked students to apply ideas.

She rewrote it like this:

  • “What is evaporation?” (Recall)
  • “Why does sunlight make water evaporate faster?” (Understand)
  • “Why do clothes dry faster on a windy day?” (Apply)
  • “Why does humidity slow evaporation?” (Reason)
  • “How might farmers use evaporation to cool milk?” (Transfer)

Now the quiz moves in clear steps. When she marked it, she saw at once who was stuck at recall and who had reached reasoning. Her next lesson focused exactly where students needed help.

“It feels like I’m mapping their thinking, not just marking their answers.” — Ms Amin

Summary – Key Takeaways

  • Progression turns isolated questions into a learning journey.
  • Use the 5-step model (Recall → Understand → Apply → Reason → Transfer) to design or audit any assessment.
  • Keep the language consistent while ideas grow deeper.
  • Sequence is as important as difficulty.
  • Alignment + Progression = fair, valid, and confidence-building assessment.

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