THE BEST WEBSITE EVER FOR PRACTICE AND ASSESSING

I would like to preface this by saying, I am not a paid sponsor for IXL.com but it would be amazing if I were. It is an amazing website and if I could, I would use it for everything.

IXL is a website that has practice questions in all grades and a wide range of subject areas. 





The teacher creates a login and from there, creates student logins. There is the option for printing stickers with logins and a letter to parents. Since the website can be used at home, that is extremely helpful (and great for parent engagement) since many parents do not know how to help their children at home. 

Once a student logs on, they choose the grade level and subject.

There is then an exhaustive list of topics to choose from If a student is practicing for fun at home or when work is finished early, they might be given the freedom to choose a topic they want extra help on. If the teacher wants to target a specific topic, they might tell the students which area to stay in. For example, if my class is just beginning working on fractions, I might say they should practice W.1 however maybe later in the unit I would say to work in the "W" section. 

Once a student chooses an area to work on, they are given one question at a time. If the answer is incorrect, then the student is given an explanation of WHY it is incorrect. Then the student will either continue with similar leveled questions or be bumped back to easier questions that will help them to learn the skills that would support that learning goal.

If a student is getting correct answers, the difficulty level is gradually increased to challenge the learned. 

But how is this related to assessing? I'm so glad you asked. 

There is an entire tab of IXL on the teacher's page that breaks down student progress. You can view specific student's work and you can view class generalizations. The website highlights areas that multiple students have struggled in so you know what to focus on with larger groups and they show you suggested student grouping if only a few are making the same errors. 

Although IXL would not be a good choice for a summative assessment, it can be extremely useful for formative assessment because it has immediate feedback and support yet still tracks detailed data. 

While I focus on math, you can find almost every skill imaginable. Teachers can have students work on literacy skills. That could be extremely helpful for assessing student abilities between reading assessments. So much in reading is hard to assess because it typically involves one on one attention. 

There are some downsides to IXL that I have found. I do not like how the skills are all listed for each grade. It would be easier if there were a menu of topics then they click the menu item to see the specific skills in that area. To avoid confusion, teachers can teach their students how to use control+F on a PC computer to search for specific key words. Teachers can also assign sections to focus on as previously mentioned. Not all of the skills are aligned to the common core for each grade level so that is something to keep in mind as well. One option is to print out the page of skills and use it like a menu. Skills that should not be selected can be crossed off and skills that should be focused on can be highlighted. 

The biggest problem with IXL is that it costs money. 

A family membership starts at about $10 per month and a teacher membership price is not even listed on the website. Teachers need to submit a request for a quote to find out what it will cost. That alone sounds terrifyingly expensive. If it is too expensive for a teacher to pay for their class, there are two options that come to mind. The best option would be to put in a request for district or school funding for IXL memberships. If the district is willing to put the money into it, it is a great resource for teachers and families. If that option fails, then teachers can make a free 30 day trial. 30 days are better than no days. Those 30 days can be the 30 days leading up to state testing. Students get extra practice and the teacher can see what areas to review more in class. 

IXL has questions, not games, but it is extremely interactive and has the potential to help students who need extra support to achieve mastery.