Administrator Blog Series, Part 5
As every administrator knows, no class is alike, and even more, no two students are identical. While balancing the needs of different students is enough of a challenge in itself, what are you to do when faced with schools or classrooms with extreme ranges in background knowledge and skill level, as in those with large numbers of ELL or special needs students? IXL helps you support the teachers in your school or district with a variety of tools and features that make it easier to assist diverse learners of all stripes.
Differentiated instruction
One of the challenges in working with a diverse student population is making sure that each student feels supported and capable of mastering the material. IXL’s adaptive skills help teachers differentiate instruction and build students’ confidence through questions that automatically adjust to each learner, increasing or decreasing in difficulty depending on the student’s needs.
Targeted improvement
On IXL, each and every skill is broken into MicroSkills, a set of scaffolded building blocks that target precise concepts, enabling teachers to identify the specific areas in which a student has improved. Our MicroSkills can even be used as evidence of progress towards a goal laid out in a student’s IEP or 504 plan.
Support for teachers
Students receive immediate, detailed answer feedback on every question, which not only helps them, but also comes in handy for teachers! By providing a framework to explain the question to students, teachers can use these detailed explanations and step-by-step instructions to introduce, teach, or re-teach content.
Ongoing progress monitoring
For targeted re-teaching and ongoing progress monitoring, teachers can turn to IXL Analytics. IXL Analytics shows teachers student trouble spots, as well as the number of students who are struggling with a particular concept. Student growth and understanding are visible at a glance and can be used to document student progress throughout the year, especially for IEPs.
FAQs
IXL provides each student with a personalized pathway for growth. As students learn, IXL uses insights from their work to generate personalized skill recommendations in real time.
How can IXL help students? ›
IXL provides each student with a personalized pathway for growth. As students learn, IXL uses insights from their work to generate personalized skill recommendations in real time.
Does IXL have accessibility features? ›
Audio is automatically available to provide extra support for math, language arts, science, and social studies up through the second grade level. To utilize the audio support, your students can click on the blue speaker icon while practicing.
How does IXL support independent learning? ›
Instructional resources and engagement tools
Make learning fun and engaging with friendly competitions, collaborative activities, and more. Plus, with thousands of video tutorials, step-by-step lessons, and corrective feedback, students have the guidance and support they need to learn independently.
How to group students on IXL? ›
To add a class, click Add class in the bottom corner. Enter the class name and click Save. To add students to a class, click on the words Add students next to the class name, select any students you need to add, and click Save. You can now add as many students as you need to a class at once!
How to use IXL effectively? ›
Set SmartScore goals
As students progress through skills, remind them to set smart goals. We recommend that students set a SmartScore goal of 80, which indicates proficiency. IXL's extensive research shows that achieving proficiency in at least two IXL skills every week can improve test scores.
How is IXL helpful? ›
IXL gives you everything you need to make a bigger positive impact across your district in one easy-to-use platform, with a comprehensive personalized curriculum, instructional resources, a state-of-the-art assessment suite, actionable insights, and implementation services.
How does IXL benefit diverse learners? ›
Differentiated instruction
IXL's adaptive skills help teachers differentiate instruction and build students' confidence through questions that automatically adjust to each learner, increasing or decreasing in difficulty depending on the student's needs.
What are the disadvantages of IXL? ›
One major drawback of IXL is its emphasis on repetitive practice rather than fostering deep understanding. The program often focuses on isolated skills without providing real-world context or opportunities for critical thinking.
Is IXL an assistive technology? ›
Their mission is to provide a high-quality education utilizing adaptive technologies to prepare students for college and career. Dr. Seth Feldman, the superintendent, explains, “We use assistive technology to make learning personalized for every student.
IXL has helped students continue to learn because it provides a unique approach to personalized learning. With its adaptive software that analyzes students' response patterns during practice, IXL recognizes content areas where students may be struggling and engages them with material at the appropriate level.
Can IXL be used as a curriculum? ›
IXL's comprehensive curriculum helps students build strong connections between subjects. With full access to IXL, you can streamline schoolwide collaboration, and ultimately accelerate student progress.
What do teachers think of IXL? ›
Teachers have found IXL Learning to be a valuable tool for providing math practice to their students. With its organized structure by grade levels and standards, teachers can easily find specific topics to assign to their students.
How to do a jamboard on IXL? ›
- From the Grades Page, find an IXL skill that corresponds with your lesson. ...
- Choose a skill. ...
- Click “Start Group Jam” ...
- Select students to join your Group Jam. ...
- Monitor real-time progress. ...
- Review results. ...
- Determine the best next step.
Simply hover over the star next to any skill and select a class or individual student from the menu that appears. Once you have starred the skill, it will be highlighted for your students in their accounts.
How do I share IXL with students? ›
To assign a skill with Google Classroom:
- Sign in to your IXL account.
- Navigate to the skill you'd like to share and click on it.
- Hover over Share skill, found above “Questions Answered” in the upper-right corner.
- Click on the green Google Classroom icon ( ).
IXL is designed to support students toward authentic skill proficiency and mastery. Schools witness up to a 9 percentage point increase in state assessment proficiency rates when students consistently achieve proficiency in two IXL skills each week.
Why do schools use IXL? ›
IXL is proven to help schools drive academic gains for English language learners at all levels. From real-time assessment insights to personalized practice, IXL helps your ELL students build confidence and become proficient in academic language.
Is IXL healthy for students? ›
The program often focuses on isolated skills without providing real-world context or opportunities for critical thinking. Consequently, students may become disengaged and fail to see the relevance of their efforts. Lack of Personalization: Another issue with IXL is its one-size-fits-all approach.
Is IXL good for intervention? ›
Proven to drive positive learning outcomes for all students, IXL is an effective partner for your tiered intervention programs.
