How to Use IXL for Math Intervention for Middle School

If you’ve spent any time in a middle school math intervention classroom, you’ve likely seen the IXL logo. Let’s be real: as a math interventionist, I don't necessarily love IXL as a standalone teaching tool. However, the reality is that many of us are required to use it, or it’s the only resource our district provides.

The secret to making IXL work isn't letting students use the custom path created by their diagnostic scores (yep, you read that right… NOT using the diagnostic tool) - the secret is in YOU, as their teacher, carefully selecting skills that will scaffold them for success with grade level content.

While this post is aimed at helping teachers with a mix of grade levels in an intervention class, math intervention teachers can tweak the approach to fit their single grade level math intervention programs as well.

How to Use IXL When You Have To

When you have a room full of students at different grade levels, you cannot be everywhere at once. I recommend using IXL as your anchor activity while you do the heavy lifting in small groups. You can check out my split for the week in the next section. 

This ensures that every student gets time with you every week, while the other half of the class stays engaged in practice.

Stop Using the Diagnostic as a Lesson Planner

A common mistake is letting the IXL Diagnostic choose every lesson for every student. While the data is fine, it often leads to students working on random, disconnected skills.

Instead, I recommend a Just-in-Time approach. Instead of a Just-in-Case model where students practice skills they might need, look at the grade-level standard your students are seeing in their core math class right now. Use IXL to assign the specific prerequisite skills they need to access those standards. If you’re teaching 7th-grade proportions on Tuesday, your students should be on IXL on Monday practicing equivalent fractions.

How to Structure Your Week: The Split-Class Rotation

In a perfect world, math intervention for middle school would happen in small, grade-level specific pods. But in reality? Many of us are staring at a mixed-grade room with some combination of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders all tossed in together for varying lengths of time or frequency of time for intervention.

If you try to teach everyone at once, you’ll end up teaching to the "middle," and no one gets what they actually need. Instead, I use a split-week rotation that prioritizes high impact lessons while using IXL as a strategic support tool.

Here is how I break it down:

• My Confidence Boosting Warm Ups Regardless of the day, we always start as a whole class. We use specific routines designed to boost math confidence and lower anxiety. This is where we build the community in our classroom, ensuring every student feels safe enough to take risks. You can get a copy of 100+ ready to use warm ups right here. 

• Monday & Wednesday: 7th Grade Focus I meet with my 7th graders for a teacher-led lesson. While I’m with 7th grade, the 8th graders are on IXL working on their Just-in-Time prerequisite skills. These are the lessons I preassigned, not the lessons from the diagnostic. 

• Tuesday & Thursday: 8th Grade Focus We flip the script. I dive into a teacher-led lesson with my 8th graders, providing them with direct instruction. Meanwhile, the 7th graders are on IXL, reinforcing what we covered the day before or prepping for the day ahead.

• Friday: Fluency & Number Sense We come back together as a whole group. We skip the grade-level split and focus on fluency and number sense routines. Need some ideas? Here are my favorites!

Is This Research-Based?

In many districts, IXL is a non-negotiable because it is "research-based." Administrators love the data, and the platform has plenty of studies showing that consistent use can lead to gains in state testing. If your school requires you to use it for this reason, you aren't alone.

But here is the catch: A tool is only as good as the pedagogy behind it. While IXL provides the "what," my approach to math intervention for middle school focuses on the "how." Everything I recommend is grounded in proven educational research to ensure that your students aren't just clicking buttons, but actually growing as mathematicians.

When you use my framework, you can feel confident telling your admin that your classroom is backed by research:

• Just-in-Time Intervention: Instead of "Just-in-Case" remediation, I follow the NCTM Principles to Actions guidelines. We focus on the specific prerequisite skills students need right now to access grade-level content, which prevents them from being stuck in a permanent loop of remedial work.

• Confidence & Number Sense: We use structures like Number Talks and tools like Struggly to promote valuing the different ways students think and reason. When you do that, research proves that you are working to decrease math anxiety and improve working memory for current content.

• High Expectations: When we adopt a Just in Time approach to intervention we are communicating high expectations to our students and expectations hold immense power for student achievement. You can look at data from The New Teacher Project or Hattie’s research to see just how important high expectations are. When we stick with a Just in Case or remedial approach to intervention we are inadvertently saying, I know you can’t do grade level work, so let’s just try something easier.

Ready to take the next step with Math Intervention for Middle School?

For Administrators:

Maximize your school’s impact. Explore how other schools have benefited from expert support in structuring an effective math intervention for middle school framework that drives student growth. Get started here.

For Teachers:

Want to sharpen your intervention skills? Join our free Math Intervention Masterclass and walk away with proven math intervention strategies you can use in your classroom tomorrow. Save your seat here.