ALEKS - Assessment and Learning

Implementation Strategies


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Standing Rock-Fort Yates Elementary School, Standing Rock-Fort Yates Public Schools
Fort Yates, ND

Grade(s): K - 5
Scenario: Computers in Classroom
Purpose: Enrichment/Gifted and Talented
ALEKS Portion of Curriculum: 90%

Kim Whitebull, Gifted and Talented Teacher
I am currently using ALEKS for my pullout gifted and talented math program. The students love ALEKS. It gives them a sense of self responsibility for their own learning with math skills at their grade level. Each week I pull 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students for math 30 minutes a day. The students login to their laptops and get started immediately. They monitor their skill level each week and graph their results. They have really taken ownership of the skills to be learned for each of their levels. We set goals for the end of the year and it drives them to see themselves closing that gap. ALEKS allows me to provide guidance for learners of all levels; the students who master a topic move on and the students who don't master a topic continue with extra practice until they understand it. I would definitely recommend ALEKS for every student!


I was challenged to offer differentiated instruction to students of various math levels. This program is individualized and offered me the solution to provide math instruction to all my Gifted and Talented students.

How many days per week is class time dedicated to ALEKS?
4 days per week.

30 minutes.


How do you implement ALEKS?
As soon as I received the subscriptions, we logged in immediately, and it was very easy for students to navigate in ALEKS.

Do you cover ALEKS concepts in a particular order?
No, I allow students to pick their own topics that they want to work on. It allows them to change topics and gives them a variety to choose from.

How do you structure your class period with ALEKS?
I have pull-out classes for my Gifted and Talented students during their tier three intervention in math. I work with them for 30 minutes per day, Monday through Thursday.

My teaching is differentiated now. I sit with students one-on-one to address the areas that they are learning and go over the explanations. Those students who are able to understand the explanations move on by themselves.

They are given instructions on how to download Java at home and are encouraged work on ALEKS at least 30 minutes a day at home, especially over the weekend.

How do you cultivate parental involvement and support for ALEKS?
I give feedback to parents on student progress using the skill levels according to their pies.


ALEKS is not assigned as homework at this point.

How do you incorporate ALEKS into your grading system?
I do not do grades for ALEKS.

I have not set regular amounts at this point. In the next school year I will require ten topics each week.

Learning Outcomes

Each week students monitor their skill level and see how it continually improves, which shows them that they are in charge of their own learning. The more they login, the more they learn and the closer they get to MASTERING their grade level in math. I have some who see progress by only a few topics each week and I have some who are focused and driven to master their grade level math skills who make huge progress weekly. They all love ALEKS!

Best Practices

I would allow students to graph their progress weekly so they can see how much they progressed and they take ownership of their learning.