TL;DR: SparkAI tracks what your child learns and compares it to school standards or your own custom goals. It shows you exactly what they have mastered and recommends the "Next Best Lessons" to fill in any missing gaps.
Every parent wants to feel confident that their child isn't "missing anything" in their education. LearnSpark makes this easy with Gap Analysis. This feature acts like a smart assistant that constantly compares your child's progress against the educational goals you have set.
Whether you are following national rules or your own unique path, SparkAI helps you stay on track without the stress of manual record-keeping. That's it — you're ready to see how it works!
What is a Learning Gap?
A gap happens when there is a specific skill or topic in your chosen curriculum that your student hasn't mastered yet. For example, if your child is great at addition but hasn't started subtraction, SparkAI will flag "Subtraction" as a gap.
SparkAI looks at your student's Mastery Profile. This profile is a digital map of everything your child knows. It includes lessons they finished on the platform and activities you logged from real life.
💡 Good to know: Gaps aren't "bad grades." They are simply a roadmap of what to learn next to make sure your child has a complete and balanced LearnSpark experience!
How to Start Your First Analysis
Before SparkAI can find gaps, it needs to know what "path" you are following. You can pick from our library or use your own plan.
Head to the Curriculum tab on your dashboard.
Choose Select Standards (like Common Core or your country's requirements) or Upload Custom Curriculum.
Click the Run Gap Analysis button. SparkAI will perform "Skills Decomposition," which means it breaks big topics into tiny skills to see exactly what is missing.
⚠️ Heads up: Running these deep checks and updating the Mastery Profile uses your SparkAI credits. You can check your balance in your account settings.
Understanding Your Progress
To see how your student is doing, click on the Performance tab. You will see Standards Progress bars that show your child's Operating Level compared to the Expected Level for their age.
As you finish lessons or log museum trips, the bar fills up. If the bar is shorter than the "Expected" mark, SparkAI will highlight the standards you need to touch on next. Red highlights usually mean a core skill is missing that your child needs before they can move to harder topics.
Filling the Gaps with SparkAI
The best part of Gap Analysis is that you don't have to spend hours planning how to fix missing links. SparkAI helps in three ways:
Next Best Lessons: On your home page, SparkAI suggests specific lessons designed to close your child's biggest gaps.
Priority Planning: When you generate new projects, SparkAI automatically suggests topics that satisfy missing standards first.
Log Activity: If a gap shows up for something your child already knows, use the Log Activity button to record their real-world experience and update their profile!
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should I run a Gap Analysis?
Most families run an analysis once a month or at the start of a new term. This keeps your "Next Best Lessons" fresh and accurate.
What if I use my own custom curriculum?
SparkAI is great at this! If you upload a custom document, SparkAI will analyze it to find gaps just like it does with national standards.
Does Gap Analysis use my credits?
Yes. AI credits are used for all functional things like keeping mastery profiles up to date, gap analysis, and skills decomposition. This ensures your data is always compared to the newest requirements.
Can I ignore a gap if I don't think it's important?
Yes! You are the teacher. While SparkAI will suggest lessons to fill the gap, you have full control over your child's journey and can choose any topic you like.
What if SparkAI says a skill is missing, but my child already knows it?
You can manually update their mastery level in their profile or log a quick activity to tell the system they learned it through real-life experience. Great job keeping their profile accurate!