Frequently Asked Questions

Texas SUCCESS provides state funded access to interactive math and reading programs for Texas public school students in grades 3-8. These engaging and interactive online programs support students at all skill levels and, most importantly, encourage and enable progress and achievement as they move through the activities and curriculum. SUCCESS stands for Students Using Curriculum Content to Ensure Sustained Success.

Complete the sign up forms for each resource using the Sign Up links in the site menu.

Yes, both services are available to all Texas public School students in grades 3-8!

Yes, however we recommend that you contact your child’s teacher first to find out if your child already has an account through their school. If your child already has an account, then parents can sign up to receive access to reports by clicking on the Sign up links under the Math and Reading navigation categories on this website. If the teacher has not created an account for your child and does not plan on participating in the program, you can create an account for your child by following the Sign Up links. Both services are available to all Texas public School students in grades 3-8!

TEA has provided Texas SUCCESS resources for all public school students in grades 3-8 to use through August 31, 2015 as TEA’s budget year ends August 31, 2015. Continuation of Texas SUCCESS will depend on usage, impact and legislative appropriations. TEA’s funding is based on legislative appropriations every two years. Funding appropriations for the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 school years will be available at the end of the 84th legislative session (June 2015).

Texas SUCCESS is for all public school students in grades 3-8! These programs offer students the opportunity to improve in math and reading regardless of their skill level.

Please remember that you have to enroll separately in both Istation and Think Through Math. If you have not received your login credentials for one or both programs, please check your spam/junk email folder as the message may have been filtered. If the message is not in your spam/junk email folder, please click on the “forgot password” link to trigger an email message with your account information. If you receive a message indicating that you do not currently have an account in Istation or Think Through Math, please contact the SSI Support Center for Texas SUCCESS at [email protected] or call 877.315.4918 (toll free).

Yes! The Istation program can be accessed using a desktop, laptop, iPad or Chromebook.  Think Through Math is tablet optimized, and therefore can be accessed using any browser – Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer.  Please see the technical requirements for Istation at: http://www.istation.com/support/technicalinfo. Please see the technical requirements for Think Through Math at: http://content.thinkthroughmath.com/static/TTM-TechCheck.pdf.

Please see the technical requirements:
Istation Reading: http://www.istation.com/support/technicalinfo
Think Through Math: http://content.thinkthroughmath.com/static/TTM-TechCheck.pdf

There is no cost to enroll in Texas SUCCESS. As part of the Student Success Initiative (SSI), Texas SUCCESS is state-funded for every Texas public school student in grades 3-8.

No, both the math and reading services are state-funded and available to all Texas public school students in grades 3-8. All you have to do is sign up to access the resources.

Please contact the Texas SUCCESS support center at 1.877.315.4918 (toll free) or email [email protected] for details.

Districts are not limited to a certain number of students that can participate. The only requirement is that the student must be enrolled in grades 3-8 at a Texas public school or open enrollment charter school.

Unfortunately, private schools are not eligible to participate in Texas SUCCESS.

In Think Through Math, a student can opt to have questions and answers read to them by the computer in Spanish. In addition, if a bilingual student is connected with a live tutor in Think Through Math, the system will attempt first to route that student to a bilingual tutor if they have been identified as such in the system. The Istation Reading product in Spanish is not available through Texas SUCCESS at this time.

The Texas SUCCESS logo and tagline may be used only with permission from the Texas Education Agency and Education Service Center, Region 20. If you wish to use a Texas SUCCESS logo, please forward a mock-up or sample drawing showing your proposed use to [email protected]. Following submission, your request will be evaluated and you will be notified whether or not the request is approved. The normal turnaround time for such requests is one week. If approval is granted, you will be sent formal written authorization to use the logo, electronic artwork and usage guidelines where appropriate. Third parties that are authorized to use Texas SUCCESS logos must not alter or modify them in any way without prior authorization. Third party use of the Texas SUCCESS logo is restricted to promotion of the Texas Success initiative within the state of Texas and cannot be used to market materials outside the scope of the initiative. The logo must be re-sized proportionally and cannot be combined into a single graphic with other groups’ logos or graphic elements. Alterations that include new type treatments (for example, backgrounds, “flames” on the letters, etc…) are not permitted. Online use of the logo must be hyperlinked to texassuccess.org. Permitted use of Texas SUCCESS graphics, photographs, text or logos in advertising and promotion requires proper acknowledgement.

Teachers can create an account and start setting up classes in less than 24 hours.

Administrators can complete the Think Through Math Sign Up form. Once the form is complete, a Think Through Math customer service representative will contact the administrator with further instruction regarding creation of teacher and student accounts. At each step of the process, expect to receive notification within 24 to 48 hours regarding the completion of that step. Normally the process can take 5 to 10 business days. Contact the support center for Texas SUCCESS if you have any questions (877) 315-4918 or email at [email protected]

Think Through Math (TTM) is a Web-based, supplemental math program for students in grades 3 through 8. The program sets a new standard of differentiation by supporting students with personalized learning pathways, explicit instruction, meaningful practice, and unlimited access to LIVE, state-credentialed teachers. Working in concert, these powerful features have a big impact on their math achievement, behavior, and self-esteem.

he first time students log into Think Through Math, they take an adaptive placement test. The test includes a maximum of 25 items that sample students’ math knowledge. The placement activity creates a personalized learning pathway for each student that targets grade-level expectations. The placement begins with an item that is 2 grade levels below the student’s grade level. The assessment searches for the grade level at which students consistently demonstrate mastery. Once that is determined, the adaptive exam ends and the performance level of the student is set at the highest grade level where the student was successful with the items presented. This data establishes the depth of a scaffold where precursor lessons are inserted between the student’s performance grade level and their actual grade level.

Great question! TTM is continually reviewing and improving content. These improvements are based on data showing how students are progressing through specific lessons. Sometimes the data tells us that a lesson needs to be modified or redesigned to improve student performance. In order to revise the lesson, we have to make it temporarily unavailable to teachers and students. Usually, we can do this when most students are not on the system. However, we don’t know when teachers will view a lesson so it can look like it “disappeared” to a teacher. We make every attempt to do this as quickly as possible and in a manner that does not interrupt the student or teacher experience. Again, most of these changes take place during evening and weekend hours and lessons are typically available again very quickly. If students encounter a lesson in their pathway that is temporarily unavailable, they will simply skip that lesson and come back to it once it is available. This is part of our continuing commitment to using data to improve results in every way possible.

Significant aspects of our platform are compatible with tablet devices that do not support Flash, such as the iPad. Our teacher and administrator portals will be entirely usable on tablet devices without Flash. Our student interface will be accessible on a tablet with the exception of these areas:
• Connecting to and working with the Think Through Math live teachers
• The Equation Builder and Equation Solver steps of the Problem Solving Process activity five-step word problem
• The Overview/Presentation step (Interactive Presentations such as TopTV)
• Interactive feedback (mainly used in Algebra)
• A handful of specific items that ask the student to click on parts of an image, such as a coordinate plane
For maximum effectiveness, the program is best used on a computer.

Think Through Math is a cloud-based application. All that’s needed is an Internet connection.

Think Through Math is designed for all students in grades 3-8 who are preparing for STAAR. Because Think Through Math is adaptive, it develops individualized learning pathways that target the unique instructional needs of each student including:
• Students who are working at grade-level or above
• Students who are working a year or two or more below grade-level
• Students who find traditional math programs boring and de-motivating
• Students who love to work on the computer

Think Through Math provides extensive math instruction and practice, including all the precursor lessons necessary for success at grade-level. The program also aligns to the TEKS and anticipates the rigor of the STAAR assessment. From basic platform skills to the foundations of algebra-readiness to Algebra I, each student’s learning path is individualized, relentlessly focused, and designed to meet students where they are. Areas include:
• Fluency with whole numbers
• Fluency with fractions
• Particular aspects of geometry and measurement
Think Through Math targets these areas, offering a personalized path based on student grade-level, state standards and student performance. Ultimately, the program deepens understanding of critical mathematical concepts and improves higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills.

It’s easy to get started with Think Through Math. The program can be implemented flexibly–in a variety of settings with students of varying ability and grade levels. For best results, students should use the program at least three times a week from school or home for most of the school year 60 to 90 minutes per week.
• TTM Blended: As the technology station inside a math block or pullout
• TTM Extended: Before-school, after-school and Saturday math programs
• TTM Lab: A large group of students use the program in the computer lab
• TTM Home: Students login wherever they have an Internet connection – BYOT, study hall, at home, community library

Think Through Math’s support system is designed to provide just-in-time instruction and immediate corrective feedback to each student targeting the specific academic challenge they are encountering. Customizable learning coaches provide the first level of support for students. This direct instruction builds understanding of the concepts and skills for the lesson focus and is delivered when the student clicks on the Math Help button. Immediate corrective feedback for incorrect responses is generated by a research-based system that provides guidance and instructional support drawn from the best practices of teacher and tutor intervention methods. Each student receives as much support as necessary. However, if a student continues to struggle, they are escalated to a live teacher.

In addition to the just-in-time instruction and immediate corrective feedback students receive at every step, students have access to live help in the form of live, certified math teachers. In other words, if students continue to struggle inside a particular lesson and are not responding to the automated prompts, help, and corrective feedback, the system connects them to a live teacher within 7-10 seconds. If a student is a Spanish-speaker, they are given access to a Spanish-speaking teacher.
Think Through Math teachers are all expert and certified. As former and current classroom teachers, they understand how difficult it is to differentiate for a typical class of 20-25 students. They enjoy working in the TTM environment because they can have a positive impact on large numbers of students every day.

Think Through Math is not a game – it is a math curriculum with gamification baked into the program. Gamification is the use of game-like thinking and elements in places that aren’t traditionally games but are proven effective and serve learning. Research shows that the use of game mechanics and dynamics like badges, leaderboards, and self-customization can be useful for improving motivation and learning. If you think about how engaged so many of our students are in gaming, a big part of what’s driving them is to amass more points, move up another level, and beat their personal best. We admire the work of cognitive scientists who often describe how “the brain is addicted to success.”

Think Through Math motivates students to do more math both during and after school with its uniquely 21st century motivation system–a powerful blend of intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. The system is based on a single idea: reward effort. The program motivates by:
• Developing executive function
• Providing unprecedented differentiation
• Integrating gamification, customizable avatars, badges
• Opportunities for collaboration and teamwork
• Opportunities for making charitable contributions to organizations such as Wounded Warrior Project, Boys and Girls Club, United Way, Salvation Army, Big Brother and Big Sisters and Special Olympics to name a few.
• Theme-based competitions and contests
• Helping students feel the thrill of success

Think Through Math continuously assesses student activity and performance to adjust instructional pathways as necessary. Students complete a Pre-Quiz before entering every lesson and a Post-Quiz upon completion. The Pre/Post-quiz structure is part of our formative assessment system that uses data to move students into their zone of proximal development. Pre-Quiz and Post-Quiz results are viewable from the educator dashboard via online progress reports.

Administrator and teacher dashboards provide maximum transparency to the metrics that matter most. “Anytime, anywhere” access to implementation and student performance data enables all educators to use data to drive instruction and ensure a greater level of student achievement. Reports include:
• Standards Reports: This customizable report allows Texas educators to evaluate performance. Standards Reports provide actionable snapshots of student progress, strengths and weaknesses and overall class readiness.
• Detail and Trend Reports: All the information you need to track, monitor, and ensure student achievement—including implementation fidelity!
• Overview Reports: Overview reports allow educators to view customized student usage information thereby making informed decisions on usage and achievement—for entire classes or individual students.
Students also have access to their own personal dashboard reports that show them how they are progressing towards grade-level standards, the lessons they have completed, and what is coming up. Parents are encouraged to review these reports with their children at home.

Absolutely. Think Through Math is committed to your success and embeds a wide range of professional support tools for teachers, administrators and parents via the Dashboard. The Dashboard provides intuitive click-through access to additional instructional resources, best-practice video, data analysis of student progress and direct access to Classroom Coaches for immediate instructional assistance.
• 24/7 Resources: The Teacher Dashboard links to resources to build expertise including downloadable classroom resources for teachers and leaders, live and recorded online webinar trainings and exclusive events.
• Video On-Demand: From their Dashboard, teachers can access short, practical video tutorials that focus on using the program effectively and model teaching.
• Classroom Coach: No more waiting for returned calls. Educators can rely on expert classroom coaches while they teach.
• Data Upfront: Teachers have anytime/anywhere access to the most important implementation and student performance data to help drive instructional decision-making and planning.

Istation delivers individualized reading instruction with age-appropriate content. Every lesson is supported with data-rich benchmark and continuous progress monitoring assessments through Istation Reading’s proprietary ISIP™ technology. Depending on the grade level, the English reading curriculum covers critical reading domains including phonemic awareness, alphabetical knowledge, vocabulary, word analysis, comprehension, and/or fluency.

Istation’s Indicators of Progress (ISIP™) software generates reports for all assessments — benchmark testing, automatic monthly assessments, and on-demand assessments. These web based reports are available immediately and 24/7 on iPads, Chromebooks , other mobile devices as well as desktops and laptops. This data enables teachers and administrators to make informed decisions regarding classroom curriculum, individual and group progress, the need for intervention, optimal interventions, and next steps.

To download the Istation Imagination Station program for login at home, visit the Istation download webpage at http://www.istation.com/support. There you will find instructions on how to download the application to your home computer, laptop, iPad, or Chromebook.

The domain is your school location and must be entered the first time you log into Istation.
If you are a parent, please refer to the parent letter you received from school. Once you install and open the Istation application/app, you will be asked to enter the domain in the configuration page.
If you are an educator and you log into Istation, click on the Find Your Campus link, enter your school name and the corresponding Istation domain will appear.  Please contact the Texas SUCCESS support center at [email protected] or 877.315.4918 – toll free if you have difficulty locating the domain name information.

To access the customized instruction, your child should click on Reading with ISIP™. The Books option provides students with access to books that they have encountered during their ability level instruction in Reading with ISIP™. The Writing option allows your child to develop his/her writing abilities.  The Assignments option will have a number other than zero next to it if your child’s teacher has created assignments in Istation.  Please note that the Books section is for browsing and is not connected to the customized instruction available through Reading with ISIP™.

To change a domain, add the domain into the username of the older student. Please see example below:
Example:
Username: jdoe.school.district.tx
Password: *****************
If you do not know the domain assigned to your school please refer to the parent letter you received from school.   Please contact the Texas SUCCESS support center at [email protected] or 877.315.4918 – toll free if you have difficulty locating the domain name information.

To download the Istation Imagination Station application to your desktop or laptop, visit the Istation download webpage at http://www.istation.com/support. To install it on an iPad, go to the App Store and search for the Istation.com app. To install Istation on a Chromebook, go to the Chrome Web store.

Go to Istation’s reset password request webpage at https://secure.istation.com/Account/ResetPasswordRequest.

Go to texassuccess.org. To log into Istation, click on the Login link under Reading.

Follow these 3 steps:
1) Confirm that your student is logging into the student application – Istation Imagination Station on a desktop or laptop, Istation.com app on the iPad, or Istation Chromebook app. Look for the application icon on the desktop or laptop and double click to launch the student curriculum application. On an iPad, tap on the iPad icon to launch the program.
2) Next, confirm that the student’s school is listed correctly above the username and password fields. This information is referred to as the Istation domain. If you are uncertain what the Istation domain is for your student’s login, please refer to the letter sent home from your student’s teacher.
3) Finally, confirm that the student is entering his or her username in lower case letters, and his or her password is typed as it appears on his or her login card. When entering passwords, please make sure Caps Lock is not enabled. As you type, the login may appear to be in caps but it is not – as long as the Caps Lock is not enabled.

If a student is having login problems, ask him or her to login using a different computer.
If the problem is limited to one machine:
Hardwire the computer to the Internet by connecting an Ethernet cable from the Ethernet port on the computer to an Ethernet port on a router or in the wall, and then ask the student to login again.
Restart the computer, iPad or Chromebook.
Reinstall the program on that one computer, iPad or Chromebook. (Note: If you do not have administrative rights, you will need to contact someone at your campus or at your district.)
If the login problems occur on multiple computers and/or for multiple students:
Run a test using a Firewall Configuration Test utility to confirm that the district firewall is allowing access. (If it is, the computer should post the confirmation message, “Ok.”)
If possible, confirm that any district content filtering allows Istation’s IP address range (174.143.0.184 – 174.143.0.191 (174.143.0.184/29)) and Istation.com. Network content filtering can cause some content or data to be blocked, which will appear to affect only certain students.
Have a different student log into the same computer and see whether the same issue occurs.
Visit a site that a student wouldn’t normally visit, such as a grocery store or hardware store website, to see whether the computer has a good connection to the Internet.
Check with the technology staff at your school or at your district to confirm the program has been installed using administrative rights and the Istation directory has read/write access.

Ensure that the headphones are properly plugged in and that the volume is turned on. If this does not help, update your sound drivers.

For information on system requirements and technical specs, visit the Technical Information webpage at http://www.istation.com/Support/TechnicalInfo.

This usually indicates that there is a problem with the connection between your school computers and the Istation servers. Try the following:
Visit another website that is not cached in your system (i.e., a site that students are unlikely to have gone to from school, such as a car manufacturer site, usa.gov, etc.) to confirm whether the computer has a good connection to the Internet.
If you can’t access another site, confirm that district content filtering allows Istation’s IP address range (174.143.0.184 – 174.143.0.191 (174.143.0.184/29)) and Istation.com. Also confirm that there is not any software on the computer that might be preventing the computer from connecting to the Internet.

Istation Reading provides individualized instruction to every student. The program identifies the reading needs of your child and automatically prescribes lessons that will meet those needs. The program teaches every student the essential reading skills needed to close gaps so every student can excel. Istation Reading focuses on those skills that research says are needed for students to become better readers.

For questions like these, the following resources are available:
Training Center – Training is available on demand 24/7 through Istation’s Training Center complete with video segments that allow teachers to learn through self-paced tutorials.
To access, log in to your Istation account by visiting texassuccess.org and clicking ‘Login’ under Reading. Once logged in, click on Training Center.
Interactive User’s Guide – To access, log in to your Istation account by visiting texassuccess.org and clicking ‘Login’ under Reading. Once logged in, hover your mouse over Training Center and click on FAQs.