Table of Contents
Using Smart Groups to Identify Students Who Need Support
Smart Groups allows you to quickly see which students are excelling, approaching goals, or in need of extra support. They are powered by the Momentum Score Goal, which defaults to 80 but can be adjusted.
Meeting Goal: Scores at or above your goal
Approaching Goal: Scores within 10 points below your goal
Needs Support: Scores more than 10 points below your goal
Needs More Practice: Low exposure (≤5 questions), regardless of score
You can use these groups to guide both activities in Quill and in-person interventions, such as small-group instruction or one-on-one support.
Assigning Targeted Practice
What It Is
Targeted Practice helps you quickly assign activities from Quill’s Activity Library. Each curated pack includes roughly 15+ questions; enough for students to reach High Skill Exposure.
These packs are designed to minimize overlap with Diagnostic recommendations and offer fresh practice. When overlap does occur, the report highlights it as a useful instructional moment.
How to Assign
Assign directly from the Skills report to individual students, Smart Groups, or the entire class (except from the Performance Breakdown “By Skill” view).
Find the skill you’d like to assign, then click the ellipses (...) next to the skill. From the dropdown, select Assign targeted practice to class.
Key points to remember:
You may preview each pack before assigning, including readability range and content details.
Some skills offer multiple pack options (e.g., standard vs. ELL-supported); select the most appropriate version.
Each student can receive a specific pack once per class per skill.
Editing and Exploring Assigned Practice
After assigning, you can adjust the pack as needed via the Manage Activities page. This includes changing publish/due dates or removing individual activities. Packs are ordered from easiest to hardest, making it simple to tailor difficulty for your students.
You can also explore the Activity Library for additional practice opportunities beyond the suggested packs.
Changing Your Momentum Score Goal
If you want to shift the benchmark that drives your Smart Groups, click Change goal and set a new target between 50–100. Updating this goal automatically refreshes Smart Groups for all your classes, helping you maintain consistency in monitoring student progress.
Once you have selected Change goal, use the slider to set your desired Momentum Score Goal.
Tips for Combining Report Insights with In-Class Interventions
Data from the Skills Report is most powerful when paired with targeted instruction.
Use Smart Groups to structure small-group sessions or one-on-one support.
Assign Targeted Practice to directly address skill gaps revealed in the report.
Monitor Momentum Score trends and Replay Rates to identify students who are improving, struggling, or demonstrating persistence.
FAQs
How can I use Smart Groups to form small groups for intervention in my class?
How can I use Smart Groups to form small groups for intervention in my class?
Smart Groups automatically organize students based on their Momentum Scores and Skill Exposure, making it easy to identify who needs support. The default groups are:
Meeting Goal: Students who meet or exceed your Momentum Score goal
Approaching Goal: Students slightly below your goal
Needs Support: Students more than 10 points below your goal
Needs More Practice: Students with low exposure (5 or fewer questions answered)
You can use these groups to form small intervention groups for in-person instruction. For example, focus targeted support on students in the Needs Support group while providing additional practice to students with low exposure. You can also assign Targeted Practice directly from the Skills Report to individual students, Smart Groups, or the whole class.
Can I export or print Smart Group data?
Can I export or print Smart Group data?
Yes. While in the Smart Group tab of the Skills Report, you can download the report by view or by student using the Download button in the top right corner.
Tip: You can toggle between All Practice and Class Practice to customize based on whether you want to see students’ full Quill history or only work completed in the current class.
What happens if a student has already been assigned a Targeted Practice pack?
What happens if a student has already been assigned a Targeted Practice pack?
A student can only be assigned a specific Targeted Practice pack once per class for each skill. If you attempt to assign it again, Quill will notify you and only assign the pack to students who have not already received it.
Can I customize the Targeted Practice pack?
Can I customize the Targeted Practice pack?
Yes. After assigning a pack, you can edit it anytime from the Manage Activities page. You can change the publish and due dates, and even edit the specific activities within the pack. The activities are ordered from easiest to hardest, so you can remove more challenging ones if needed.
You can refer to this guide for how to edit activity packs from the Manage Activities page.
How can I use the Performance Trend metric to have a productive conversation with a student who has a high Momentum Score but is "Trending Down"?
How can I use the Performance Trend metric to have a productive conversation with a student who has a high Momentum Score but is "Trending Down"?
The Performance Trend highlights changes in learning momentum. If a student has a high Momentum Score but is “Trending Down,” it can signal that they are starting to face new challenges. You can use this data to:
Acknowledge their past success and reinforce their confidence.
Discuss any recent difficulties they may have noticed.
Offer targeted practice or support to help them maintain their progress.
Have more questions?
Please feel free to send a message to the Quill team using the green message bubble on the bottom right corner of the screen or email us at support@quill.org.