Natasha Thomas is an IXL Professional Learning Specialist with over 5 years experience as a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities teacher and curriculum developer.
Many parents care just as much as you do about helping students make meaningful progress. But between busy schedules and a lack of teaching expertise, their involvement in their children’s learning can be a challenge. That’s why it’s key to make at-home help and parent-teacher partnerships as clear and straightforward as possible.
To support you with these conversations, and guide families toward the right resources, we’ve rounded up the best features and reports on IXL to set parents up for success and keep them in the loop on their children’s progress.
Table of contents:
- Have parents become homework helpers (it’s easy!)
- Track progress at any time
- Support communication from the start
Have parents become homework helpers (it’s easy!)
Check in on assignments
The first thing students and parents see when they sign in to IXL is the student dashboard. Use it to your advantage, and show families how this page can give them helpful insights into their children’s learning!
Let parents know they can see their child’s assignments for class under the ‘From your teacher’ tab. From there, they can easily monitor their child’s quizzes and homework. You can explain that checking for a score of 80 or above on homework means their child has reached proficiency, or a strong understanding, in their assigned skills.
From the teacher side, you can set a time or question goal on IXL. Parents can easily check for completion of this goal in the “How am I doing?” section so they can help keep their child on track.
Empower at-home learning
When parents work with their child on IXL at home, let them know IXL has resources to support independent learning! Here are a few tools you can point parents to when they’re not sure how to answer a homework question:
- Video tutorials: When parents need a refresher on a topic, steer them to IXL’s thousands of short, expert-led videos on essential math and language arts concepts!
- Learn with an example: Before kids begin a new skill, you can suggest to families that they walk through the ‘Learn with an example’ explanation with their children to build a foundational understanding of the topic.
- Step-by-step answer explanations: Encourage parents to make sure their child reads through these explanations before moving on to the next problem whenever they miss a question.
Track progress at any time
You may be an IXL Analytics whiz, but when families see this section of their children’s accounts, they may feel out of their depth. Keep things simple by directing parents to the most family-friendly reports, and lay out exactly how they can make the most of these insights into their child’s learning!
Share a summary of student progress
The Student Summary report is the first thing parents will see when they click the Analytics tab. It puts all of their child’s progress onto one easy-to-read page, so make sure to point out these important sections.
- Overall growth: If your class uses the diagnostic, this section gives parents a clear visualization of their learner’s progress for the year, making it easy to understand their child’s grade-level growth.
- Accomplishments: Encourage parents to celebrate their child’s successes by reviewing their achievements from working on IXL skills.
- Areas to focus on: Boost at-home learning support by pointing parents towards the next best steps for their child’s progress.
Provide specific steps for growth
If you use IXL’s Real-Time Diagnostic with your class, let parents know when there’s an upcoming assessment so that families can stay in the loop on what’s happening in their children’s classrooms. Then, you can share how each student performed by directing parents to the Diagnostic Action Plan!
To help parents understand the results, provide a brief explanation of the scoring system. For example, if you teach 4th grade and it’s halfway through the year, let parents know their child should be scoring around 450.
Whether in an email or during parent-teacher conferences, point families towards the list of skills on their children’s action plans. These skills will help their children grow from where they are to close learning gaps and stay on track through the end of the year.
Support communication from the start
Send home IXL information
Help families kick-start IXL usage at home by sharing these printable and digital resources from your Teacher Resources. Make sure you’re signed in to download these resources!
- Start out strong with the fully editable parent letter, which introduces families to IXL and establishes it as an important part of their children’s at-home learning routines.
- Build on this introduction with the parent handout. This gives families a deeper understanding of how they can support their children’s work on IXL.
- Streamline the at-home sign-in process by printing out IXL launch cards for both students and parents. You can recommend pinning these cards to their family notice board or refrigerator so they always have their IXL info!
Create an “IXL Welcome Pack”
If you want to go above and beyond, try creating an “IXL Welcome Pack” for parents that includes all of these resources! That way you’re partnering with parents from the start.
Host an IXL Information Night
Another way to boost family involvement is by hosting an “IXL Information Night!” At the event, you can demonstrate how families can use IXL to support their children’s at-home learning and answer any questions they might have.
Whichever resources you choose to share, IXL is here to help you build a strong relationship with your students’ families and maintain clear communication throughout the school year!
