Skills & Standards

Curriculum Hierarchy

The StudyPlug API organizes educational content into a four-level hierarchy:

Grade → Subject → Topic → Skill

Each level narrows the scope:

Level	Example	Description
Grade	grade-3	A grade band. kindergarten through grade-8.
Subject	math	One of five subjects: math, reading, vocabulary, spelling, science.
Topic	addition	A conceptual grouping within a subject.
Skill	add-within-1000	A specific, assessable ability. This is what you generate content for.

A skill belongs to exactly one topic, one subject, and one grade. The slug is the unique identifier at every level.

Browsing the Catalog

Use the catalog endpoints to navigate the hierarchy top-down:

# 1. List all grades
GET /api/v1/grades

# 2. Get a grade's subjects
GET /api/v1/grades/grade-3

# 3. Get a subject's topics for a grade
GET /api/v1/subjects/math?grade=grade-3

# 4. Get a topic's skills
GET /api/v1/topics/addition?grade=grade-3

# 5. Get full skill detail
GET /api/v1/skills/add-within-1000

Grade List Response

{
  "data": {
    "grades": [
      { "slug": "kindergarten", "name": "Kindergarten", "order": 0, "subjectCount": 5, "skillCount": 42 },
      { "slug": "grade-1", "name": "Grade 1", "order": 1, "subjectCount": 5, "skillCount": 58 },
      { "slug": "grade-2", "name": "Grade 2", "order": 2, "subjectCount": 5, "skillCount": 61 }
    ]
  },
  "meta": { "requestId": "req_abc123", "apiVersion": "v1", "cacheHit": true, "generatedAt": "2026-02-23T12:00:00Z" }
}

Skill Detail Response

{
  "data": {
    "slug": "add-within-1000",
    "name": "Add Within 1000",
    "grade": { "slug": "grade-3", "name": "Grade 3", "order": 3 },
    "subject": { "slug": "math", "name": "Math" },
    "topic": { "slug": "addition", "name": "Addition" },
    "standards": [
      { "code": "3.NBT.A.2", "framework": "CCSS-Math", "description": "Fluently add and subtract within 1000." }
    ],
    "contentTypes": ["arithmetic"],
    "difficultyRange": { "min": "easy", "max": "hard" }
  },
  "meta": { ... }
}

Standards Alignment

Every generated ContentItem includes a standard field that maps the item to a recognized educational standard. The API supports three frameworks:

CCSS-Math (Common Core State Standards for Mathematics)

Covers K-8 math skills. Codes follow the pattern grade.domain.cluster.standard.

Code	Description
K.CC.A.1	Count to 100 by ones and tens.
1.OA.C.6	Add and subtract within 20.
3.NF.A.1	Understand a fraction 1/b as one part of a whole partitioned into b equal parts.
5.NBT.B.7	Add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimals to hundredths.

CCSS-ELA (Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts)

Covers reading, vocabulary, spelling, and language skills. Codes follow the pattern strand.grade.standard.

Code	Description
RF.1.2	Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds.
RL.3.5	Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems.
L.4.4	Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown words.
RI.5.8	Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support points.

NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards)

Covers K-8 science. Codes follow the pattern grade-discipline_core_idea-standard.

Code	Description
K-PS2-1	Plan and conduct an investigation on the effects of pushes and pulls.
3-LS1-1	Develop models to describe that organisms have unique life cycles.
5-ESS1-2	Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in shadows.

Searching by Standard

You can generate content by standard code instead of skill slug:

POST /api/v1/generate
{
  "standard": "3.OA.C.7",
  "grade": "grade-3",
  "count": 10
}

Or search the catalog for skills aligned to a specific standard:

GET /api/v1/standards/3.OA.C.7

Note

A skill may align to multiple standards. The standard field on a ContentItem reflects the primary alignment. Secondary alignments are available in the skill detail endpoint.

Grade Levels as Integers

Throughout the API, grade levels are represented as integers 0—8:

Integer	Grade
0	Kindergarten
1	Grade 1
2	Grade 2
…	…
8	Grade 8

When making requests, you can use either the integer (3) or the slug string ("grade-3"). Responses always include both forms.

Next Steps

• Content Types — See which content body types each subject uses.
• Content Items — The full ContentItem model reference.
• Deterministic Generation — Generate reproducible content for any skill.