Kansas State Department of Education Approves IXL for Virtual Math Program

The renewed partnership enables all eligible school districts to adopt IXL's all-in-one teaching and learning platform at no cost to boost math achievement

TOPEKA, Kan., Aug. 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) has extended its partnership with IXL, the award-winning personalized learning platform used by 15 million students, to enhance math achievement and close learning gaps. This collaboration ensures that IXL Math remains accessible at no cost to all Kansas-accredited K-12 public and private schools through KSDE's Virtual Math Program. IXL Math is currently used by 94 percent of all K-12 districts in Kansas, accounting for approximately 320,000 learners.

COVID-19 has had a lasting impact on education in Kansas, as it has around the world. In response to this challenge, Kansas legislators passed House Bill 2567 in 2022, allocating federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to implement a virtual math program. After thoroughly evaluating several solutions, the KSDE identified IXL as the platform most closely aligned with its state standards and best supported by in-depth research.

Leaders specifically value IXL's custom-built skill plans for the Kansas Assessment Program (KAP), which unpack state standards into targeted skills so teachers know exactly what students should work on to meet key benchmarks. In fact, recent efficacy research shows that schools using IXL Math outperformed non-IXL schools on the KAP. IXL skills are also aligned to the Kansas Curricular Standards and the Kansas Early Learning Standards, providing comprehensive coverage of math concepts and applications.

In addition to obtaining fully-funded IXL Math licenses, each eligible district will receive access to a myriad of professional learning resources at no cost. The engaging, virtual and in-person professional development sessions empower administrators and teachers with practical strategies to maximize IXL's impact from the start.

"Despite the lingering impacts of COVID-19 on learning, Kansas educators have been resilient in their efforts to improve math achievement statewide," said Paul Mishkin, CEO of IXL Learning. "We are excited to continue supporting this common goal by equipping every Kansas learner with rigorous, high-quality resources that close learning gaps and unlock their full potential."

An innovative, personalized solution backed by research
Traditional efforts to close learning gaps in math, often relying on one-size-fits-all approaches, fail to address individual student needs and overlook differences in knowledge levels. In contrast, IXL's adaptive platform helps schools tailor educational experiences for each student, recover learning, and boost academic achievement.

A Kansas case study highlights the impact of IXL's personalized guidance and the Real-Time Diagnostic on achievement at Jardine Middle School, the largest middle school in Topeka. The study revealed that a majority of students who began the year below grade level demonstrated two or more years of growth during the school year with IXL Math.

Comprehensive curriculum for deeper learning
IXL's K-12 curriculum empowers educators to differentiate instruction and gives students the agency to choose their own learning pathways and master essential math concepts independently. Over 12,000 standards-aligned skills connect to, support, and build on one another to meet any learning need. Each skill is adaptive, adjusting in difficulty to ensure students are perfectly challenged. Based on students' previous work, IXL generates personalized recommendations in real time that guide learners to skills that will help them make the most progress. This approach promotes rigor by enabling students to develop a conceptual understanding of math, build procedural fluency, and tackle challenging problems that have real-world applications.

Additionally, IXL offers a wealth of instructional resources that keep students engaged. More than 2,800 video tutorials for Grades 1 through Precalculus match one-to-one with each IXL skill to support students when they're working independently and ensure they have the guidance to learn with confidence. Students also receive immediate feedback while working on any IXL skill: If they answer a question incorrectly, IXL provides the correct answer along with a step-by-step explanation of how to solve the specific problem they missed. This shows students precisely where they went wrong and empowers them to self-remediate. 

Accurately assess knowledge in real time
IXL gives educators everything they need to easily measure and analyze student progress. Districts leverage IXL's first-of-its-kind assessment suite, which includes the Real-Time Diagnostic and Universal Screener, to identify and close achievement gaps. For example, the diagnostic pinpoints student knowledge to the nearest tenth of a grade, then generates personalized action plans with the specific skills students need to grow. This data continually updates, giving educators reliable and actionable insights all year. IXL's Universal Screener flags students for intervention quickly and accurately. Designed by assessment specialists and independently vetted by subject matter experts, the screener has an advanced adaptive algorithm that results in precise proficiency-level placements while keeping assessment time to a minimum.

IXL Analytics also provides teachers with real-time insights that identify trouble spots and monitor performance, allowing them to respond to student needs more quickly and facilitate meaningful growth. Administrators use IXL District Analytics and IXL School Analytics to track student progress and teacher engagement to improve IXL's impact on their school or district.

About IXL
Currently used by 15 million students and in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts, IXL is an all-inclusive educational platform that provides a comprehensive PK-12 curriculum and instructional resources, actionable analytics and a state-of-the-art assessment suite. IXL's end-to-end teaching and learning solution supports personalized instruction in math, English language arts, science, social studies and Spanish. With more than 150 billion questions asked and answered around the world, IXL is helping schools and parents successfully boost student achievement. The IXL Learning family of products also includes Rosetta Stone, Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com, TPT, inglés.com, FrenchDictionary.com, Wyzant, Vocabulary.com, ABCya, Education.com, Emmersion, and Carson Dellosa Education. To learn more about IXL, visit www.ixl.com, facebook.com/IXL and x.com/IXLLearning.

Press Contact
Joslyn Chesson
IXL Learning
[email protected]

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SOURCE IXL Learning