Rebecca Schollmeyer is an IXL Professional Learning Specialist with eight years of experience teaching in elementary schools.
IXL makes it easy to prepare for standardized testing while seamlessly integrating the process into your lesson plans! With IXL, teachers have all the test prep tools they need, as well as built-in engagement tools to make reviewing fun, engaging, and collaborative.
Plus, research shows that IXL usage leads to higher test scores, predicts success, and benefits all student populations.
Let’s take a closer look at how you can use IXL for test preparation.
Find the right IXL skills
IXL makes it easy to find and assign the perfect skills that align with the assessments your students are preparing for.
State standards
IXL is aligned to all 50 state standards, and our state standards skill plans help teachers effortlessly unpack every requirement into targeted IXL skills. These custom-built plans point teachers and students to the exact skills they need to work on to prepare for state testing.
To prioritize skills for standardized assessments, you can also leverage your state’s testing blueprint or identify essential standards.
Test prep skill plans
IXL’s test prep skill plans help you focus your test preparation on skills that are most relevant for any upcoming assessment. We currently offer state-specific test prep skill plans for 20 assessments and are always working on more.
Assigning skills
After you’ve identified the skills students should practice, you can easily assign skills by clicking on the star next to each skill. When you “star” a skill, it appears on students’ dashboards and encourages them to work only on the skills you’ve assigned.
Empower independent learning
With a variety of easy-to-use instructional tools, IXL enables students to review and prepare for exams independently.
Instructional Resources
While practicing IXL skills independently, students will always have the guidance and support they need to learn and review with confidence.
Before practicing an IXL skill, students can click “Learn with an example” to see example questions and learn how to solve questions with detailed step-by-step instructions. IXL also has thousands of built-in video tutorials that walk students through effective strategies to answer questions in the skill.
When students answer a question incorrectly, they always receive a detailed answer explanation that helps them learn from their mistakes.
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. If students are ready for a challenge, you can encourage them to work to a SmartScore of 90 or even 100.
Make review fun
IXL can also help keep your students motivated during test preparation with games, friendly competitions, and classroom engagement tools.
Group Jams
Group Jams turn skill practice and test prep into a group activity. In a Group Jam, all students will see the same question at the same time, and teachers can see every student’s answer. They’re perfect for reviewing specific skills with your entire class or small groups of students!
Leaderboards
Looking for a way to motivate and engage students during the testing season? Try out class-wide or school-wide competitions!
You can customize IXL Leaderboards to have students compete over total questions answered, skills proficient, time spent on IXL, and more. This can encourage students to complete more skills and spend more time preparing for exams.
Bonus: Get other teachers and classrooms on board for a school-wide Leaderboard.
IXL BINGO
For another fun review activity, you can create BINGO cards with the skills you want students to work on for test preparation. Using each skill’s permanent skill ID to create spaces, students can cover a space when they reach proficiency (a SmartScore of 80) in that skill. Plus, offer prizes such as stationary, raffle tickets, or gift cards to amp up the excitement.
With all of IXL’s resources, it’s incredibly easy to prepare students for standardized assessments while also making review fun and engaging!
