What’s new on IXL – June & July 2026

In the Classroom, IXL Updates

At IXL, we never stop adding new features and skills to our award-winning teaching and learning platform, so you can always trust we’re on pace with students’ evolving needs. That’s why we compile a list of our top new features to help you—as a learner, educator, or parent—get the most out of IXL.

Keep reading below for a roundup of releases from May, including PreK-2 Spanish language arts skills, a faster LevelUp™ ELA assessment, national norms for all LevelUp math and ELA grades, and more! To stay current with our latest updates, follow IXL on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn.

Table of contents:

Major releases

IXL Spanish Language Arts for grades PreK-2

We have expanded our Spanish language arts (SLA) curriculum to include content for grades PreK-2! IXL now offers rich, authentic SLA instruction across the full PreK-5 range.

The new PreK-2 skills focus on the foundations of reading and early reading strategies. All content is authentically written in Spanish, created from the ground up by expert writers and curriculum designers. Additionally, every skill comes with a comprehensive video tutorial that features a fun and friendly Spanish-speaking tutor walking through the topic.

IXL SLA skill with a short passage about a Chinese dragon. Below is a question about the passage. To the right is an illustration of a fisherman with the Chinese dragon flying above him.

Feature updates

Shorter assessment time for LevelUp™ ELA

We’ve updated the LevelUp™ ELA assessment to provide comprehensive ELA levels in 90 minutes or less, instead of two hours! Admins and teachers can obtain all the same reliable LevelUp ELA insights they need in a fraction of the time, providing an experience that is easier to schedule and less fatiguing for students.

The Reading and Writing & Language Benchmarks are now combined into a single assessment, providing the same rigor and trusted insights in a shorter experience. Students will see the same familiar format and question types, and educators will continue to receive meaningful ELA insights, including an overall ELA score, strand-level insights, and personalized recommendations.

National norms for LevelUp ELA and high school math

We now have national norms for the LevelUp Diagnostic for all of K-12 in both math and ELA! Previously, national norms were only available for K-8 math.

National norms help educators contextualize how students are performing on the diagnostic relative to other students across the country.

Nationally normed percentiles can be found on the LevelUp Diagnostic Results report for administrators and the LevelUp Diagnostic Overview report for teachers.

Two bar graphs representing students

LevelUp grade-level classifications update more often

The on, above, below and far below grade classifications for LevelUp scores will now be updated on a monthly basis instead of three times a year.

The initial classification will occur on each account’s first day of school, then update on the same date each month. For example, an account with July 15 as the first day of school will reflect updated grade-level calculations on the 15th of each month. This makes these classifications more flexible and updates to them more predictable.

Enhancements to LevelUp accommodations

Administrators and teachers now have more control over LevelUp accommodations to ensure a smooth, flexible diagnostic experience for students. These updates include:

  • Administrators can now manage all LevelUp accommodations, including extended time, audio support, and Spanish language support, from the admin student roster page.
  • LevelUp accommodations are separate from practice settings. Teachers will see separate LevelUp accommodations settings in their profile and settings page.
  • Teacher control over LevelUp accommodations can be toggled. Lead administrators can decide whether teachers have permission to set and edit accommodations on the account settings page. This toggle is defaulted to on.
Settings for administrators to manage LevelUp accommodations. There are options to enable extended time, extend audio support, and enable Spanish support.

Editable IXL Leaderboards

Admins and teachers are now able to edit IXL Leaderboards directly! The creator of a leaderboard can access the editing screen by clicking the button with the pencil icon.

If the leaderboard has not yet started, all settings are editable. While a leaderboard is in progress, settings that impact the standings are not editable; only the leaderboard name and end date can be modified.

Additionally, the End early button on the leaderboard banner has been removed. Users can immediately end a leaderboard by changing the end date to Now on the current date.

A menu to change Leaderboard settings. There are options to select new start and end dates and times, as well as rename the leaderboard.

Raceway challenges suggestable to students

Teachers can now suggest Raceway challenges in the Fluency Zone to their students! This makes it easier for teachers to direct students to the exact challenges they need to work on.

Selecting the star icon lets teachers suggest Raceway challenges to their whole roster, specific classes, or individual students. Suggested challenges will appear in the “From your teacher” section of students’ dashboards. Teachers can manage suggested challenges on their own dashboards, just like suggested skills.

The second grade Fluency Zone. Next to the Raceway challenge "Add within 10" there is a star icon. Below this icon is a popup menu to suggest this challenge to all students or specific classes.

New skill filters for Skill Usage and Skill Proficiency reports

We’ve released new skill filters for the Skill Usage and Skill Proficiency reports, available for all English-language editions of IXL!

Admins can now filter skill practice and proficiency data by the following categories:

  • On-grade skills only: View data for skills aligned to each student’s rostered grade level.
  • Diagnostic Action Plan skills only: View data for skills from students’ personalized Diagnostic Action Plans.
  • State standards-aligned skills only: View data for skills aligned to your state standards (US edition only).

These new filters make it easier to analyze practice and proficiency trends based on the specific types of content students are working on.

The Skill Proficiency report with a filter menu open, filtering the report to include on-grade skills.

LevelUp Math Diagnostic standards reports for K-8 Maryland standards and integrated high school standards in West Virginia

We’ve released standards reports for the LevelUp Math Diagnostic for updated Maryland K-8 standards, as well as for West Virginia high school standards in two additional courses: Integrated Math I & Integrated Math II.

Skill plan updates and new skills

Fall Power-Up plans for math and ELA return

Our Fall Power-up skill plans are back! These plans provide daily skill recommendations that review important concepts from the previous year, so students are caught up and ready to move forward.

Available for K-12 in both math and ELA, the Fall Power-up plans feature 20 days of skill recommendations to help students review their knowledge and start the school year strong.

New StudyWise plans for Minnesota NWEA MAP Growth

IXL’s StudyWise tool turns students’ previous test scores into their own personalized study plans. We’ve expanded our StudyWise support for Minnesota NWEA MAP Growth to include science for 2nd to 8th grade. These plans were created in partnership with NWEA.

Teachers and students can now input scores into StudyWise to generate personalized plans that align with these Minnesota MAP tests. As usual, admins can also request bulk uploading scores for their school. Teachers and students who previously created Minnesota MAP study plans will continue to see those plans in their account.

New math skills

We’ve released 13 new math skills for middle school through Calculus!

New English language arts skills

We’ve released ten new ELA skills, spanning kindergarten through 12th grade!

  • Read short vowel words (Kindergarten): Students read a short vowel word (e.g., nut) and choose the matching image. This skill helps emerging readers build confidence as they decode individual words.
  • Main idea skills (Grades K-2): Students identify the topic of an informational text, then the main idea followed by a detail. Starting with the topic of the text helps young readers learn the difference between what the overall passage is about and what the author is trying to convey to the reader. In the grade 2 version, students start with the main idea and then identify a detail.
  • Determine the topic and theme of a story (Grade 1): Students listen to a story and answer three questions: one question about the story’s topic, one question about a key detail that points to the theme, and one question asking students to identify the theme.
  • Change one letter to make a new word (Grades 1-2): Students change letters and sounds in a word can make an entirely new word!
  • Read short vowel stories (Grade 2): A new decodable text skill where students read stories featuring short vowel words, then answer comprehension questions. This skill supports the development of reading fluency and builds confidence in connected text.
  • Determine multiple main ideas of a passage (Grade 7): Students identify two main or central ideas in an authentic text, then analyze text details to develop these ideas.
  • Analyze the development of theme (Grade 9): Students analyze how the author’s choices suggest broader themes in excerpts from literary texts.
  • Analyze craft and structure in literary passages (Grade 11): Students analyze structural choices and author’s craft techniques in excerpts from engaging literary texts.
  • Analyze character development (Grades 11-12): Students close-read literary passages and identify how the author’s craft supports inferences related to characterization.
  • Analyze craft and structure in informational passages (Grades 11-12): Students analyze structural choices and author’s craft techniques in excerpts from engaging nonfiction texts.

New Spanish language arts skills

We’ve added 31 new SLA skills for grades PreK-5! Here are a few highlights:

 

  • Escoger la letra mayúscula que corresponde al sonido: repaso [Choose the uppercase letter that matches the consonant sound: review] (PreK): Students listen to an audio prompt asking which letter makes a certain sound. The prompt contains the letter sound, not the letter name, helping students master letter-sound correspondences.
  • Comparar ilustraciones mitológicas [Compare mythological illustrations] (Grade 4): Students compare two illustrations based on interpretations of myths and folktales.
  • Leer sobre historia [Read about history] (Grade 5): Students practice identifying main ideas, making inferences, and using context clues while reading informational texts on topics such as the “Year of Confusion,” the Skalds, and the origins of tea.

 

New science skills

We’ve released 32 new science skills!

New social studies skills

We’ve released two dozen new social studies skills!

New textbook skill plans

We’ve released skill plans for the following textbooks:

Math:

ELA:

Science:

  • McGraw Hill Florida Science (Grades K-5, Comprehensive Courses 1-3, Earth and Space, Life, Physical, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics)
  • OpenSciEd (Grades 4-5, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics)

New standards skill plans

We’ve released new standards skill plans for:

New test prep skill plans

We’ve released ELA plans for grades 3-12 aligned to the ReadBasix assessment. ReadBasix by Capti is an assessment used to pinpoint foundational reading issues for older students.

Additional releases

New math, ELA, and SLA video tutorials

Math:

This release includes 50 new math videos to expand our library, covering topics like income and gifts and completing a table to graph a linear function.

We’ve also released 12 new localized math videos in our Canada edition.

Language arts:

We’ve added 23 new ELA videos for elementary and high school skills. These videos cover topics like inserting dialogue into a story and avoiding double, illogical, and unclear comparisons.

Additionally, along with the 100+ new SLA videos included in the SLA PreK-2 launch, we’ve released 49 videos for recently introduced SLA skills. These videos cover topics like learning the letter Ñ (Aprender la letra Ñ) and reading about famous places (Leer sobre lugares famosos).

New dedicated platform for Takeoff

Takeoff gives teachers everything they need to teach math expertly every day. Now, Takeoff has its own dedicated platform, purpose-built for core math instruction!

This new experience gives teachers a clearer, more guided path through each day, making it easy to know where to go and what to do next. Features include:

  • Dedicated dashboards: Teachers and students each have a Takeoff dashboard designed around their daily experience. Teachers can bookmark the lesson they’re teaching for easy access and stay on top of student assignments. Students will see the activities for their current lesson as soon as they sign in.
  • Redesigned lesson plans: Every portion of every lesson now incorporates both print and online options for each activity, giving classrooms a variety of ways to learn. The plans also offer a consistent daily routine (prepare → teach → release to independent practice) built on top of the existing math curriculum.
  • Responsive teaching tools built into lessons: Tools such as Group Jam and Live Classroom are integrated directly into daily instruction, helping teachers see student understanding and respond to needs in the moment.

Takeoff customers receiving the new experience can access it at ixl.com/takeoff. Sign-in and rostering information will carry over automatically for customers transitioning to the new platform.

The teacher dashboard for the new Takeoff platform. It shows the lesson that

New Takeoff Unit Assessment Insights report

School and district administrators can now easily access Takeoff quiz and test data from the school year through the new Takeoff Unit Assessment Insights report!

This report gives admins a comprehensive view of performance on Takeoff assessments by highlighting the number of graded submissions, average, median, and distribution of student scores. Admins can group average scores by school, teacher, or demographics to compare data between different cohorts. They can also drill down into individual student scores.

This report is located under the new Takeoff tab within District and School Analytics. We’re excited to provide admins with more visibility into student performance on Takeoff assessments!

Takeoff Unit Assessment Insights report, showing stats for a unit test including average and median score, a bar graph of student performance, and student averages for each school in the district.

Takeoff Grade 6 Units 1 & 2

The first and second units of Takeoff Grade 6 are available for both National and California editions! Unit 1: Numerical expressions introduces students to exponents, least common multiples, greatest common factors, and more. In Unit 2: Operations with whole numbers and decimals, students develop fluency with the standard algorithms for whole-number division and decimal operations.

As in Takeoff K-5, users will have access to features like Personalization days, suggested IXL skills, and language tips. They’ll also find our beloved Think and talks, characters, and spiral review problems throughout the unit.

Spanish translation for Takeoff Grade 6 Unit 1

In addition to the new English-language Takeoff Grade 6 units, we have translated the first unit of Takeoff Grade 6 into Spanish! Unit 1 includes Spanish versions of the student workbook PDFs, independent practice PDFs, and the unit test. This support is available for both the National and California editions.

Family letters for Takeoff units

Family letters are now available for the Takeoff National edition! These letters describe to families what their students will be learning in each unit, and they can be printed and sent home to help keep parents and guardians informed about their children’s learning.

Family letters can be found in the additional resources tab for most units in grades K-5 now, but some units’ family letters will be released in the next few weeks. They are available in English and Spanish.

Takeoff alignment to updated Maryland standards

We’ve added alignments for the 2025 Maryland math standards to our K-5 Takeoff curriculum. When signed into a Takeoff account, educators in Maryland will see their state standards in all the usual places, such as on each grade level’s landing page and at the top of each unit and lesson.

New Takeoff state alignments for performance tasks

We’ve added state standards alignment to K-5 Takeoff performance tasks for the following states:

  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Kansas
  • Massachusetts
  • Mississippi
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Ohio

Performance tasks offer rich, high-order thinking opportunities, and can be used as standalone projects or alternate assessments.

New Takeoff independent practice pages in Spanish for K-1

We’ve released Spanish translation support for the independent practice pages for all kindergarten and 1st grade units in the National and California editions of Takeoff!

As a reminder, teachers can find independent practice pages and answer keys within the materials list for the lessons where they’re available.

New Takeoff slide decks in Spanish

We’ve released Spanish versions of Takeoff instructional slides for all K-5 units in both the national and California editions! These slides are available as downloadable PowerPoint files in the Materials section of each lesson.

New math and science skills for CA, UK, and AU

We released several new math and science skills in our Canada, Australia, and UK editions! Here are some examples:

  • In the Canadian kindergarten skill Covers more or less, students compare the sizes of objects and the space they cover. This skill builds a foundation for understanding the concept of area.
  • In the UK Year 10 skill Make an estimate from sample data, students make estimates about an entire population from sample data. Students must work with data in a variety of contexts, such as in a written scenario, in a table, or as a dot plot.
  • In the Australian Year 12 skill Verify solutions to differential equations, students practice checking whether a specified value or function is a solution to a given differential equation. This lays crucial groundwork for later skills in which students are expected to generate their own solutions. This skill is also available in the Canadian and UK editions.