Lexia - can students opt out in APS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 2nd grader hated it last year because she was reading 6th-8th grade level books and her Lexia was initially set to 1st grade content. She found it terribly remedial and repetitive. It took forever to get through the too easy material, and if she started rushing she'd accidentally hit the wrong thing and get sent to remediation. It was dreadful.

She's caught up to something closer to her level now and it's better, though she still hates it. She says all it covers are spelling rules. I'm assuming that's because she aces all of the reading content and then gets stuck on spelling, her Achilles heel.

In short, the app measures kids by their weakest skill, so if they are behind in only one area then they also have to do remedial and repetitive practice in all other areas until their weakest skill improves. It doesn't meet them where they are for each skill, which is very frustrating.

OP, I don't think there is a way to get out of it, but your child can certainly do the bare minimum.

I could have written this post but mine is in 4th grade. Last year when kid complained about doing it I sat and did it with her and thought it was a waste of time. Teacher agreed it had placed her too low but said there was nothing she could do. So I told DD to skip it and use the time reading instead. This year they start up Lexia again but didn't retest...so she started back where she was. It's a huge waste of time.
And don't get me started on the math app reflex. So glitchy it erases kids progress every time she does it and it starts over at 1x1, 7x1, etc.
(Before anyone says it's likely where she needs to be, it's a kid flagged for gifted last year. These programs are just kinda useless).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a student isn't progressing and literally hates LEXIA can they opt out? It can be so frustrating when other students are done with it and we are going nowhere fast.

Is there a better option in APS?

What do you want them to do instead? They usually do Lexia as part of a rotation in LA. Also, how do you know their progress? Our school specifically says not to do Lexia at home. Your kid might be on something challenging that’s taking longer to master. It’s a really great program for literacy.

Not excellent when your child figures out the talk to text function on their iPad, and instead of typing in any word that they are prompted to spell, they just speak it very slowly and clearly and the iPad fills it in for them. They learn nothing related to actual spelling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you sit with your child and see why they are not progressing?

he/she is probably not progressing because learning without a pencil/paper for younger grades and live instruction doesn't work. don't make it about the student here -his/her attention span for learning online is probably 5 seconds.

I mean if they arent getting a concept - then lexia will just keep repeating over and over which frustrates the kids. So sometimes if the parent sits for 5 minutes and explains it or helps them get through it - then the problem is solved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 2nd grader hated it last year because she was reading 6th-8th grade level books and her Lexia was initially set to 1st grade content. She found it terribly remedial and repetitive. It took forever to get through the too easy material, and if she started rushing she'd accidentally hit the wrong thing and get sent to remediation. It was dreadful.

She's caught up to something closer to her level now and it's better, though she still hates it. She says all it covers are spelling rules. I'm assuming that's because she aces all of the reading content and then gets stuck on spelling, her Achilles heel.

In short, the app measures kids by their weakest skill, so if they are behind in only one area then they also have to do remedial and repetitive practice in all other areas until their weakest skill improves. It doesn't meet them where they are for each skill, which is very frustrating.

OP, I don't think there is a way to get out of it, but your child can certainly do the bare minimum.

I could have written this post but mine is in 4th grade. Last year when kid complained about doing it I sat and did it with her and thought it was a waste of time. Teacher agreed it had placed her too low but said there was nothing she could do. So I told DD to skip it and use the time reading instead. This year they start up Lexia again but didn't retest...so she started back where she was. It's a huge waste of time.
And don't get me started on the math app reflex. So glitchy it erases kids progress every time she does it and it starts over at 1x1, 7x1, etc.
(Before anyone says it's likely where she needs to be, it's a kid flagged for gifted last year. These programs are just kinda useless).

Should definitely ask teacher to put the placement test again - it is easy to do.

[Anonymous]

I didn't know it was required? My kid is just in 1st grade but also isn't a fan of lexia for reasons already articulated here - he reads well above his grade level, but finds the app slow. His spelling is AT grade level, so that further slows him down on the pieces he is advanced at. And also it's just kind of boring, I have watched it enough to know that. I think it's great if it works for kids, but also quite fine if it doesn't.

That said, I know they have Lexia time at school but from what I can tell, he spends that time reading a book his teacher gave him. That doesn't have the benefit of a "check" but we read enough at home to help progress his skills. We don't use Lexia at home, ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't know it was required? My kid is just in 1st grade but also isn't a fan of lexia for reasons already articulated here - he reads well above his grade level, but finds the app slow. His spelling is AT grade level, so that further slows him down on the pieces he is advanced at. And also it's just kind of boring, I have watched it enough to know that. I think it's great if it works for kids, but also quite fine if it doesn't.

That said, I know they have Lexia time at school but from what I can tell, he spends that time reading a book his teacher gave him. That doesn't have the benefit of a "check" but we read enough at home to help progress his skills. We don't use Lexia at home, ever.

I'm pretty sure APS "requires" it. My kid has definitely been told by her teachers that they were told by the principal they must have the kids do Lexia. It also seems to be one of the main ways APS is tracking reading progress of young kids, or at least how they were doing so during the pandemic. I posted earlier and am not a fan of the app, personally (nor is my kid).

[Anonymous]

APS had/has a terrible math app, too. Does APS just pick bad apps, or what? (My kids are past all this, but I don't understand how this keeps going wrong when we've heard for nearly a decade that technology is going to help with personalized learning)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So it's totally my kid. He's to blame, so I'll let him know. Lemme call school real quick, and write an apology to Lexia for besmirching their good name this last year. He started using Lexia in the 3rd grade last year when things were virtual. He hated virtual and by extension he hated Lexia. He reads several grades ahead, scored in the tippy top percent on his SOLs, his comprehension is great (yes I know some early readers struggle with comprehension, not the issue), spelling is hit or miss but usually hit, we regularly sit and read together as a family. But he's apparently still on a Lexia level a grade and a half back. He's literally been at the Russian circus for over a year now. He also has ADHD, mental health diagnosis, tutors, a therapist, meds, accommodations in his 504... so yeah he's to blame, if you need to blame the kid and the parent. Sure. So am I. I should have quit my job last year and told him to love Lexia like he loves reading! Darn it! Bad mom.

But he gets nothing from that app. He has to do it. His teacher has to make him. She's incentivized him to try to get out the lower grade level on it by giving him his own special middle grade books to read on the side. I'm glad to know that it helps some kids, and I hope they continue to enjoy literacy, reading, writing... But if your kid hates it and they sincerely don't get anything out of it, then fine. Just stop sweating it.

Nah, I think people were saying you were the problem, not your child. Guess what, kids are going to do things at school that they don't enjoy. If Lexia was the only reading instruction your child was receiving then yes, contact the school and talk to them about it but that's 100% not what is happening here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Nah, I think people were saying you were the problem, not your child. Guess what, kids are going to do things at school that they don't enjoy. If Lexia was the only reading instruction your child was receiving then yes, contact the school and talk to them about it but that's 100% not what is happening here.

And such is life, but shouldn't there be a benefit to someone as a results of kids doing things they don't enjoy? It doesn't sound like that's the case here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Nah, I think people were saying you were the problem, not your child. Guess what, kids are going to do things at school that they don't enjoy. If Lexia was the only reading instruction your child was receiving then yes, contact the school and talk to them about it but that's 100% not what is happening here.

And such is life, but shouldn't there be a benefit to someone as a results of kids doing things they don't enjoy? It doesn't sound like that's the case here.

But should we be making kids do terribly frustrating, non beneficial things?

In Audible, there's a setting to increase the reading speed 2x. Every time my kid does Lexia she just about tears her hair out waiting for each question. It really needs a 2x button for those fast processing kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
. I’d be interested to see if there is actual evidence to show that Lexia actually boosts reading comprehension.

This is old, has a small sample, and is a decent design: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Intervention/230

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:APS had/has a terrible math app, too. Does APS just pick bad apps, or what? (My kids are past all this, but I don't understand how this keeps going wrong when we've heard for nearly a decade that technology is going to help with personalized learning)

Reflex. It's actually worse than Lexia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
. I’d be interested to see if there is actual evidence to show that Lexia actually boosts reading comprehension.

This is old, has a small sample, and is a decent design: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Intervention/230

Thanks, but that seems to prove there wasn’t really any improvement in reading skills using Lexia- or am I not reading it right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it set on a level that is too high for her?

I’d talk to the teacher to troubleshoot since it’s an excellent tool for literacy.

Yes so excellent

Pictures of:
Snowflake. Stool. Net

App says: “Here is a flake, stool and net. Touch the one that starts with the /s/ sound.

Kid presses snowflake because duh it is a snowflake and they are half listening and gets it wrong and goes to remediation.

So excellent for literacy.

and then child freaks the eff out b/c they are right and the program makes them do about 6 stupid repetitive things. I opted out but my kid has dyslexia so I explained that an expert had to do it with my child b/c I can't teach phonics to a child with dyslexia. On the website it does say that kids with learning difficulties need a teacher to help them...and I"m not that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it set on a level that is too high for her?

I’d talk to the teacher to troubleshoot since it’s an excellent tool for literacy.

Yes so excellent

Pictures of:
Snowflake. Stool. Net

App says: “Here is a flake, stool and net. Touch the one that starts with the /s/ sound.

Kid presses snowflake because duh it is a snowflake and they are half listening and gets it wrong and goes to remediation.

So excellent for literacy.

and then child freaks the eff out b/c they are right and the program makes them do about 6 stupid repetitive things. I opted out but my kid has dyslexia so I explained that an expert had to do it with my child b/c I can't teach phonics to a child with dyslexia. On the website it does say that kids with learning difficulties need a teacher to help them...and I"m not that.

This child isn’t exactly right because snowflake starts with /sn/ which is a blended single sound. But I’m not otherwise sure of the utility if it produces so much frustration.