Pathway assignment and adaptivity in Imagine Math

Content in Imagine Math is made up of pathways, which are series of lessons. This article explains how pathways are assigned in Imagine Math and how they are personalized for each student.

How Imagine Math pathways are assigned 

All students are assigned a grade-level pathway when their account is created in the new school year. This is either the grade-level pathway specific to their state (for example, Utah), or else the Common Core grade-level pathway if their state does not have unique pathways. Customers outside the United States will also be assigned the Common Core grade-level pathway.

• Students created via automated rostering are automatically assigned the pathway that matches their rostered grade level.

   Note

  There are no grade-level pathways labeled Grade 9, 10, 11, or 12: Instead, students in Grade 9 receive the Algebra I pathway while students in Grades 10, 11, and 12 receive the Geometry pathway.

• Students created via manual rostering receive the pathway selected by the educators conducting the rostering. As a general rule, we recommend that you assign the pathway that matches the student's rostered grade. However, during account creation, you have the option to assign any pathway labeled PreK through 8 or one of the following: Algebra Readiness, Algebra I, Geometry, Integrated High School Math I or Integrated High School Math II. 

For both automated and manual rostering, students with a rostered grade of PreK–2 are placed in the Imagine Math PreK-2 environment, while students with a rostered grade of 3 and up are placed in the Imagine Math 3+ environment.

Single vs. Multiple Pathways

Students in the Imagine Math PreK–2 environment will only have one pathway, based on their rostered grade level. Multiple pathways are not supported in the PreK–2 environment. Every time a PreK–2 student logs in, they automatically work in their one pathway. 

Students in the Imagine Math 3+ environment can have multiple pathways, and there is no limit to how many pathways a 3+ student can be assigned. Students with more than one pathway must select which pathway they'll work on each time they log in, as shown in the screenshot below. 

• As an educator, you have the discretion to assign pre-built pathways and/or custom pathways you create yourself. You can even assign additional grade-level pathways if you want to—for example, a grade-level pathway aligned with Illustrative Math. This pathway could be based on the student's rostered grade or their instructional grade—it's up to you.
• Domain-specific pathways are also available relative to the NWEA Assessment. They can be configured to assign automatically if your district uses NWEA. In this case, the domain-specific pathways are assigned to each student based on their RIT scores from their latest NWEA assessment. However, the domain-specific NWEA pathways can instead be assigned manually if your organization has not set them up to be automatic. In fact, they can even be assigned manually to students who don't take the NWEA assessment.

• You can also replace a Grade 3+ student's originally assigned rostered grade-level pathway with a different pathway (for example, a pathway based on the student's instructional grade level, or a different type of curriculum, such as substituting a pathway aligned with Illustrative Math for the Imagine Math pathway). 

   Notes

  • All students in Grades 3+ must always have at least one assigned pathway in at least one class in order to work on lessons in the program. To be sure all students have work assigned, you can check for students without a pathway.
  • If students are in multiple classes and do not have a pathway for each class, that is allowed. When students log in to the program, they will see all of their pathways from all of their classes in a list on their dashboard. However, educators will only be able to view pathway data for their own assigned classes. 

How Imagine Math pathways adapt to student needs

Imagine Math adapts to support each student by adding extra lessons when remediation is needed. This happens via two pathway configuration settings: Benchmark Test Remediation and Pathway Remediation.

The grade-level pathway has a default setting called Benchmark Test Remediation that inserts additional, prerequisite lessons throughout a student's pathway based on how they perform on their assessment. The prerequisite lessons prepare students to tackle the grade-level content they encounter in their grade-level pathway.

An additional pathway option, also enabled by default on the grade-level pathway assigned at account creation, is called Pathway Remediation. This setting adds additional support lessons throughout the pathway when students fail their pathway lessons.

Together, the Benchmark and Pathway Remediation options ensure that each student gets the lessons they need.

How pathway personalization displays in the educator portal

You can view the personalization of each student's pathway by looking at their Student Progress report. The report's key identifies which type of lesson the student is working on. The keys are different between Imagine Math PreK–2 and Imagine Math 3+ as seen below: 

• For students in Grades PreK–2, Prerequisite Lessons are proactively assigned throughout their pathway based on their assessment results. Targeted Review is added when students don't pass exercises as they progress through their pathway. 
   
• For students in Grades 3+, look for Lessons added via pathway remediation and Lessons added via benchmark remediation.
  

What if I want to change the student's grade-level pathway?

In most cases this will not be necessary because Imagine Math is already programmed to insert preparatory prerequisite lessons when needed. However, if you strongly desire a student to work on a grade-level pathway different from their rostered grade, here's what you need to do.

• For students in Imagine Math PreK–2:
  You can change the student's grade-level pathway by changing their rostered grade level, up to Grade 2. If you change a student's grade level while they are in the middle of a lesson, students must finish that lesson first. Then they will receive their next lesson for the new grade level.
• For students in Imagine Math 3+:
  Changing the student's rostered grade level in Imagine Math 3+ does not change their pathway. Instead, you must replace the student's rostered grade-level pathway with a different grade-level pathway.