Over 15 million students count on IXL‘s extensive curriculum and personalized quiz-based teaching style to support their studies. The SmartScore algorithm, real-time diagnostic feedback, and tailored action plans are just some of the valuable features that contribute to a customized educational experience.
There are also numerous resources that motivate students and thorough analytics reports for performance tracking. This makes life easier for parents and educators, too, as they’re able to quickly check in and see where progress is being made.
Prices start at $6.58 per month, but you can give IXL a test run before fully committing by making the most of its 30-day money-back guarantee.
From Pre-K to Twelfth grade, IXL covers over 8,500 skills related to Math, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, and Spanish. It’s possible to choose from numerous skill plans based on state standards or over 80 popular textbooks. This convenient learning structure is hard to find on other educational apps.
The platform’s core methodology is centered around providing infinite computer-generated questions using a unique algorithm – SmartScore – which even measures how well students are performing in a specific skill.
The algorithm uses factors like the number of questions completed, their difficulty level, and the student’s consistency to assess their performance. When learners reach 100 SmartScore, they have likely mastered that skill.
SmartScore is only one of the many features that help parents and legal guardians clearly view children’s learning development. There’s also Real-Time Diagnostic, which provides up-to-the-minute feedback on students’ current Math, Language Arts, and reading levels. Then, a personalized action plan is created with the specific skills to help your child grow academically.
What’s more, there are thorough analytics reports for monitoring learners’ progress, containing data about the number of questions answered, time spent, and trouble spots.
IXL also provides several excellent resources to support educators. There are many classroom engagement features, such as friendly competitions, instructions for fun activities, and group jams that allow students to work together on the same question.
In addition to captivating students, this educational app can save teachers valuable time and effort by providing complete lesson plans, ready-made interactive activities, and printable worksheets that can be set as homework.
In terms of plans, the choice is either a classroom license with one of the five subjects or all of them plus up to 150 students.
Overall, IXL‘s activities are high quality and engaging. Each question answered correctly is praised with words of encouragement. The activities are also divided into goals like ‘collect a certain number of tokens’ to advance.
Depending on the subject, each question has text and video explanations. For example, a Math question about numbers comparison provides an example of the same question, the key idea, and its solution.
The most valuable aspect we found is that when an answer is incorrect, there’s always a concise yet efficient explanation with a review of the subject, tips to remember, and the solution.
Still, it’s important to mention that not every lesson has a video to explain its core subject, which would allow students to learn new topics without needing previous knowledge.
The personalized skills recommendations are effective in motivating students and driving improvement. They suggest lessons based on what learners have been practicing, freeing parents and legal guardians from the hassle of curating the lessons themselves.
Additionally, the learning journey becomes more fun with IXL’s awards and reward systems. There are treasure hunts to uncover hidden prizes, stickers and stamps to collect, and more.
Kids also earn certificates as they achieve milestones. Printing these certificates and displaying them at home can boost confidence and motivate them to keep learning new skills.
The cherry on top is that, like ABCya and Education.com, there are also over 120 fun and interactive games, many of which are actually run by ABCya. The games are great for captivating students and keeping them interested in learning when they’re done with the lessons of the day.
According to its privacy policy, IXLÂ collects users’ personal information, such as profile name and email, as well as device data like IP address and location. One of the reasons why IXL collects private information is to improve the service and provide personalized content.
Unfortunately, no security settings allow users to control their data or manage privacy preferences. However, the platform’s data collection, processing, and sharing comply with the FERPA and COPPA.
Plus, according to the kidSAFE Seal Program, IXL meets its specific online safety and privacy standards. So, parents and educators can trust the platform is safe for kids to use independently.
Moreover, it’s worth highlighting that IXL doesn’t display any third-party targeted adverts on its services, which may distract kids or lead them to inappropriate content. It also doesn’t use or disclose student data for targeted advertising purposes.
Overall, the platform’s interface is sleek and straightforward, so navigating through it is a breeze. Still, although its layout caters to children, the graphics and sounds could be more kid-friendly to keep them engaged for longer periods.
The uncluttered dashboard clearly displays the activities assigned by parents, the recent skills kids have been working on, and recommendations.
Kids’ weekly performances and earned awards are also easy to view. We found having this essential information so clearly presented a welcome motivator that may encourage kids to keep studying and improving their skills every time they log in.
Moreover, IXL is available on desktop and mobile devices. There isn’t a desktop app, but users can access the platform from any browser. The mobile app is available for Android and iOS users. Importantly, both the web and mobile versions are fast and stable. We didn’t experience any technical issues like crashes or bugs during our testing.
We especially enjoyed the mobile version as it allows learners to answer problems in their own handwriting. They can use their fingers to write the answer or work through math problems by drawing on the screen.
Considering the platform’s extensive list of positives, IXL‘s prices are fair, especially the yearly plans – starting at $6.58 per month for a single subject and one child.
The plans are divided according to the number of subjects each one offers. The Single Subject package only offers one subject (Math or Language Arts). The Combo Package provides Math and Language Arts, while the Core Subjects plan is the most complete, offering Math, Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies.
Spanish is only available as an additional purchase, starting at $3.33 per month (with an annual billing cycle). The annual plans are 33% cheaper than the monthly ones, and each additional kid costs as little as $3.33 per month for yearly plans.
Although there isn’t a free version of the service, if you commit to any plan and decide to cancel within 30 days, the company provides you with a full refund.
IXL’s customer service deserves a gold medal for the number of support channels and useful materials it offers. The support team is available during weekdays, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET, and can be reached via the platform’s support form, email, or phone.
There’s also a comprehensive help center, where most of the doubts we had during our testing were quickly clarified, saving us precious time we would have to spend contacting the support team.
Still, the one time we reached out via the support form, we got a clear and kind answer in less than 24 hours.
There’s even a blog where IXL’s team regularly posts helpful articles about the company’s features and updates, as well as tips for users to make the most of the platform. The extra sparkle is that the company is also active on Facebook, X, Pinterest, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
All in all, IXL checks all the boxes for a platform that can advance children’s learning journey, with its SmartScore algorithm, real-time diagnostic feedback, and personalized action plans.
It’s incredibly helpful that parents and educators can instantly track children’s performance and act on the areas they’re struggling with, thanks to the thorough analytics reports. Plus, the encouraging feedback in the high-quality activities, rewards system, and interactive games engage and motivate kids to keep learning.
One of the few disadvantages of IXL is the lack of concept explanations before some lessons. Still, the reviews provided after each question make up for that, especially considering it’s a quiz-based platform focused on practice.
Although the collection of users’ data may raise some privacy concerns, the COPPA certification and adherence to kidSAFE Seal Program ensure it’s a safe space for kids to learn.
Moreover, with top-notch customer service, fair prices, and up to 33% discounts, it’s worth taking advantage of the 30-day money-back guarantee and giving IXL a try.
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