> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.learningcommons.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Carnegie Skills Progressions

> Reference for Carnegie Skills Progressions in Knowledge Graph: Skill, Subskill, Indicator, Indicator Item, and Progression Level entities modeled as StandardsFramework and StandardsFrameworkItem, covering Collaboration, Communication, and Critical Thinking for grades 9–12.

[Dataset last updated August 12, 2026.](#dataset-release-history)

## Overview

The Carnegie Skills Progressions dataset represents a research-grounded framework for durable, employer-recognized skills.

It describes how each skill develops across 4 progression levels in high school.

|                      |                                                                                                                                                                |
| :------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Source**           | [Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching](https://www.carnegiefoundation.org/) ↗ and [ETS](https://www.ets.org/) ↗'s *Skills Progressions, Vol. 1* |
| **Supported grades** | 9–12                                                                                                                                                           |
| **Includes**         | <ul><li>Collaboration</li><li>Communication</li><li>Critical Thinking</li></ul>                                                                                |

<Note>
  In future releases, the Carnegie Skills Progressions dataset will be expanded to include:

  * **Additional skills** that have been finalized in later Carnegie volumes
</Note>

## Use cases

| Use case                                                | Examples                                                                                                                                                                         |
| :------------------------------------------------------ | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Build rubrics and assess student work**               | <ul><li>Score student work directly against the four-level progressions (Exploring → Analyzing → Integrating → Extending)</li><li>Skip hand-coding a rubric from a PDF</li></ul> |
| **Tag AI-generated content**                            | <ul><li>Label or align AI-generated content and activities to specific durable skills and indicators</li></ul>                                                                   |
| **Support project-based and career-connected learning** | <ul><li>Attach employer-recognized, cross-jurisdiction language for Collaboration, Communication, and Critical Thinking to projects and work-based experiences</li></ul>         |
| **Localize a Portrait of a Graduate**                   | <ul><li>Map a district's Portrait of a Graduate to Carnegie's multi-state language to present durable skills goals in terms a wider range of districts will accept</li></ul>     |
| **Query durable skills alongside academic standards**   | <ul><li>Treat durable skills as a queryable dimension alongside academic standards, using a shared data model to build against more than one framework at once</li></ul>         |

## Schema

The data uses [Standards](/knowledge-graph/schema-reference/standards) entities to represent **Skills**, **Subskills**, **Indicators**, **Indicator Items**, and **Progression Levels** in a 5-level tree:

|                                                                                |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| :----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Data model**                                                                 | <img src="https://mintcdn.com/czi-60a2a443/lmmW7u7D7sahe0jS/images/kg/carnegie-skills-progressions.jpg?fit=max&auto=format&n=lmmW7u7D7sahe0jS&q=85&s=f87678be1fe72f1217149d20fb30cb8f" alt="Carnegie Skills Progressions data model diagram" width="2123" height="938" data-path="images/kg/carnegie-skills-progressions.jpg" /> |
| [**Entities**](/knowledge-graph/schema-reference/standards#entities)           | <ul><li>[`StandardsFramework`](/knowledge-graph/schema-reference/standards#standardsframework) (e.g., *Carnegie Skills Progressions, Vol. 1*)</li><li>[`StandardsFrameworkItem`](/knowledge-graph/schema-reference/standards#standardsframeworkitem) with 5 `statementType`s:<ul><li>**Skill** — i.e., Collaboration, Communication, or Critical Thinking</li><li>**Subskill** — Named capability within a skill</li><li>**Indicator** — Thematic, observable statement within a subskill</li><li>**Indicator Item** — Concrete, assessable item under an indicator (e.g. *1.1A*)</li><li>**Progression Level** — i.e., Exploring, Analyzing, Integrating, or Extending</li></ul></li></ul>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| [**Relationships**](/knowledge-graph/schema-reference/standards#relationships) | <ul><li>[`StandardsFramework`](/knowledge-graph/schema-reference/standards#standardsframework) → [`hasChild`](/knowledge-graph/schema-reference/standards#haschild) → **Skill** ([`StandardsFrameworkItem`](/knowledge-graph/schema-reference/standards#standardsframeworkitem))</li><li>**Skill** ([`StandardsFrameworkItem`](/knowledge-graph/schema-reference/standards#standardsframeworkitem)) → `hasChild` → **Subskill** ([`StandardsFrameworkItem`](/knowledge-graph/schema-reference/standards#standardsframeworkitem))</li><li>**Subskill** ([`StandardsFrameworkItem`](/knowledge-graph/schema-reference/standards#standardsframeworkitem)) → `hasChild` → **Indicator** ([`StandardsFrameworkItem`](/knowledge-graph/schema-reference/standards#standardsframeworkitem))</li><li>**Indicator** ([`StandardsFrameworkItem`](/knowledge-graph/schema-reference/standards#standardsframeworkitem)) → `hasChild` → **Indicator Item** ([`StandardsFrameworkItem`](/knowledge-graph/schema-reference/standards#standardsframeworkitem))</li><li>**Indicator Item** ([`StandardsFrameworkItem`](/knowledge-graph/schema-reference/standards#standardsframeworkitem)) → `hasChild` → **Progression Level** ([`StandardsFrameworkItem`](/knowledge-graph/schema-reference/standards#standardsframeworkitem))</li></ul>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |

<Note>
  Skills and Progression Levels carry a `name`. Subskills, Indicators, and
  Indicator Items have `name` set to null and `description` set to include the
  statement.
</Note>

## Usage details

|                                          |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| :--------------------------------------- | :-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Requires files from other datasets**   | None                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| **References files from other datasets** | None                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| **REST API endpoints**                   | <ul><li>[Durable Skills Frameworks](/api-reference/durable-skills/durable-skills-frameworks)</li><li>[Durable Skills](/api-reference/durable-skills/durable-skills-in-a-framework)</li><li>[Search Durable Skills](/api-reference/durable-skills/search-durable-skills)</li></ul> |

## Dataset release history

| Date            | Changed                                                                      |
| --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| August 12, 2026 | First release for Collaboration, Communication, and Critical Thinking Skills |

## Related topics

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Standards schema reference" icon="graduation-cap" href="/knowledge-graph/schema-reference/standards">
    Review entities, relationships, and property definitions for the shared
    `StandardsFramework` and `StandardsFrameworkItem` model.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Durable Skills API reference" icon="code" href="/api-reference/durable-skills/durable-skills-frameworks">
    Query durable skills through the REST API — list frameworks, browse a
    framework's skills, and search by keyword or statement code.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>