Example of Grade-Level Progression in Reading
CCR Reading Standard 3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the
course of a text.
Reading Standards for Literature
Reading Standards for Informational Text
Grade 3: Describe characters in a story (e.g., their
traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how
their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
Grade 3: Describe the relationships between a series
of historical events, scientific ideas of concepts, or
steps in technical procedures in a text, using language
that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
Grade 7: Analyze how particular elements of a
story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes
the characters or plot)
Grade 7: Analyze the interactions between individuals,
events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence
individuals or events, or how individuals influence
ideas or events).
Grades 11-12: Evaluate various explanations for
characters’ actions or for events and determine
which explanation best accords with textual
evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves
matters uncertain.
Grades 11-12: Analyze a complex set of ideas or
sequence of events and explain how specific
individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over
the course of the text.
Progression of Standards Across Grades