MathCoach Interactive

Quality elementary practice site has detailed lessons, speedy feedback

Learning rating

Community rating

Based on 2 reviews

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Expert evaluation by Common Sense

Grades

K–5

Subjects & Skills

Critical Thinking, Math

Price: Paid
Platforms: Web

Pros: Well-organized math curriculum provides multi-modal support for a variety of learners.

Cons: The student dashboard and navigation take time to master.

Bottom Line: The well-designed curriculum and the site's comprehensive toolkit help support a variety of learners.

Mathcoach Interactive seems designed as a stand-alone, year-long curriculum, and teachers could certainly use it this way -- possibly with mixed results, depending on how it's implemented. However, the site might shine better as a supplement for reinforcing specific skills, as an instrument for homework support, as a blended learning tool, or even in a flipped-classroom environment.

Given that the site's assessment data is so robust and easy to access, teachers are likely to find it useful in targeting skills that need reinforcement. Beyond one-on-one intervention, assigning the site's included learning pathways might help students strengthen skills and push their thinking in new directions.

MathCoach Interactive is a comprehensive math website for grades K-5 with animated lessons, online practice, printable worksheets, and fluency games aligned with the Common Core standards. Complete, year-long learning paths can be assigned to students individually or in groups. Individual lessons from within the learning paths can also be assigned. Online assessments are baked in to the site to help guide students to their next steps.

After teachers set up an account, they can easily search and assign learning tasks to students. Content is searchable by skill, grade level, and topic progressions. Online games are included to help build fact fluency for a variety of topics and operations. As students log in, they're given a pre-assessment and presented with their teacher-assigned lessons. Teachers can use pre- and post-assessments to help assign targeted remediation. Kids are also encouraged to choose their own topics to study.

MathCoach Interactive does an excellent job of supporting a variety of learning styles and needs. Auditory help and closed captioning are available throughout the site. The "My Strategy" button prompts students to write and reflect on their work. Another highlight is the way the program mixes directed learning while also encouraging students to explore math content on their own. It's easy to access data to help students set goals and make progress. For the most part, lessons are well organized and give students freedom to review and skip ahead.

The site's navigation leaves a bit to be desired, but the way it puts students in the driver’s seat for learning helps engage them while also giving support. Nevertheless, this engagement may vary depending on how students are asked to use the site; with full-time, day in, day out use, kids' interest is sure to wane. However, recent updates include point-generated certificates that will likely help with longer-term motivation. For teachers, lessons are easy to preview, and assigning work is a snap, presumably leaving room for one-on-one intervention time.

Learning Rating

Overall Rating
Engagement

The site provides a reasonably engaging experience for kids. The game-like practice can be fun, and kids earn certificates that are fun and motivating. 

Pedagogy

Assessments and instant feedback help build conceptual understanding. Instruction follows a standard lesson design with direct instruction, guided practice, and corrective feedback. There's also a reflective writing component.

Support

Students and teachers have access to lots of detailed data to track progress. Help is provided at every step with optional audio support. Learners can easily repeat or skip explanations, giving them more control.

Common Sense reviewer

Community Rating

Great math practice for students who need intervention or a challenge at a great price!

What I really like is that it provides scaffolded practice for the children and gives the teacher a way to analyze they types of errors they are making. I love the use of tenframes throughout the program as it provides them with great visual support. The teacher can assign a test for the students to take. The program then generates for the children the concepts within that unit that the children need to work on. After completing those assignments they take a post test. The downside is that the test has 40 problems which can be challenging for a child to complete in one sitting. However, if the child needs to take a break for awhile or a day or week, it saves the progress. When the child logs on again to this test, it goes to where they left off. It provides children a choice of what they would like to work on as well. I also love that it keeps track of their progress! I can print out cute certificates for the kids when they make a goal and I can print out reports to keep in their folder and share with a parent.

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