Why is my student working on skills I haven’t taught?

Why is my student working on skills I haven’t taught?

Students are assigned skills they are ready to learn based on assessment data within Classworks. This includes the Classworks Universal Screener as well as results from assessment partners (if applicable). 

Supporting Students

When a student is working on new skills, Classworks has the following recommendations:

  1. Verify the student is ready for the content:
    1. Are there skills earlier in the progression that they need to practice?
    2. Have they mastered skills in the progression at 80% or higher?
    3. Reassign instruction below 80% mastery.
    4. Students need to master those pre-requisite skills in order to be better equipped for the more challenging content ahead.
    5. Are there other skills this student needs to practice in order to be successful with the concepts being introduced in class?

Go to All Skills and turn on any additional skills they need.

  • Support the student by modifying the Learning Path when the skill falls outside of the learner's readiness

    • Turn off the skill to allow students to move on within the progression.

    • Turn the skill on when the student is ready.

  • Act when the student's achievement indicates it is time for the challenge

    • Prepare the student for new concepts by modeling the Mini Lesson to ensure they understand how to best utilize this instructional tool.

    • These lessons set the stage for the new concept they are about to practice.

    • When learning a new skill, students should be intentional as they walk through and interact with the Mini Lesson.

  1. Efficiently plan small group instruction
    1. check out the skills each group is working on in Classworks
    2. Use this information to inform your small group instruction to keep students challenged and growing


Just as we reteach and offer support for students struggling to close gaps, it is important to do the same for our high flyers! Test data shows us when students are ready for new skills. Teachers are the experts to guide and support students toward new challenges!

If you are wondering who or what assessment data assigned the skill to a student check out this article. 


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