The IXL Real-Time Diagnostic provides up-to-the-minute insight into student proficiency in math and English language arts (ELA). The diagnostic assesses students’ current knowledge, pinpoints their grade-level proficiency, and creates a personalized action plan to guide them to the IXL skills that will nurture their academic growth.
To support teachers, parents, and students in using the diagnostic, IXL has created a hub full of useful resources including implementation guides and videos.
Still have questions on how the Real-Time Diagnostic works and how to get the most out of it? We’ve got the answers!
What do the Real-Time Diagnostic levels mean?
A student’s diagnostic level represents their working grade level. So a level of 400 represents a readiness to start working on 4th grade skills, and a level of 450 means the student is about halfway through the 4th grade curriculum. The two exceptions to this are preschool and kindergarten, which are represented by diagnostic levels of 0-50 and 50-100, respectively.
Student levels appear as a range of numbers when the Real-Time Diagnostic doesn’t have complete data yet. As students answer diagnostic questions, that range will shrink. Once the diagnostic has enough information it will pinpoint levels to a single number, represented by a star.
How much time should students spend on the Real-Time Diagnostic?
IXL recommends that students initially aim to diagnose until they reveal complete diagnostic data. This should take about 45 minutes to 1 hour per subject and can be done over multiple sessions. After getting their initial levels, students should answer about 10 to 15 questions per week in the Real-Time Diagnostic. This will ensure that their levels stay current all year long!
How can students tell they are done diagnosing?
Once they’ve completed their initial diagnostic or answered enough questions to keep their levels up to date, students will see a notification that says “Your diagnostic is currently complete.” This means that the Real-Time Diagnostic has enough data to determine their levels in the subjects the students were diagnosing, and to provide them with targeted skill recommendations.
Is there a way to suggest the Real-Time Diagnostic to students?
Yes! Teachers can suggest the diagnostic to their class from the Diagnostic tab (make sure you’re signed in to IXL first). Once suggested, the Diagnostic arena will appear on students’ suggested skills list on their Recommendations page.
How can I see how student levels have changed over time?
To chart student growth, IXL recommends regularly printing out Diagnostic Action Plans, which show diagnostic levels and skill recommendations. You can also encourage students to track their own diagnostic growth! With IXL’s diagnostic tracking worksheets, students can set personal goals and celebrate progress towards them.
Does the Real-Time Diagnostic have audio support?
Absolutely! Math and ELA questions at 2nd grade or below in the Real-Time Diagnostic automatically have audio support enabled. You can extend audio support to include math questions for grades 3 to 8 by going to Profile & settings and following these steps.
What are some ways educators can use Real-Time Diagnostic data?
With the IXL Real-Time Diagnostic, teachers can make smarter decisions about how to reach every student where they are. The Real-Time Diagnostic generates personalized action plans that automatically guide students to the exact skills that will accelerate their progress. This gives teachers a simple way to differentiate instruction, fill knowledge gaps, and facilitate meaningful progress.
Also, the Diagnostic Strand Analysis report uses data from the Real-Time Diagnostic to group students working at similar levels together, and show the most common skill recommendations for each of the student groups. It’s the perfect report to help teachers plan for small-group instruction!
See even more implementation ideas and strategies in the Diagnostic hub, or follow IXL onFacebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn!
