MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Sept. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Two years ago, Khan Academy started a pilot program with Long Beach Unified School District to explore how to work deeply with teachers to unlock student potential. Bolstered by the pilot's success, Khan Academy announces today the introduction of Khan Academy Districts, a landmark new offering for school districts across the country.

In addition to Long Beach Unified, Compton Unified School District and Madera Unified School District in California and Seminole County Public Schools in Florida will use Khan Academy Districts this school year.

Khan Academy and Long Beach Unified conducted a joint correlational study in the 2017-2018 school year of more than 5,000 students. Research shows:

• Teaching with Khan Academy for one class period per week for at least 30 minutes was associated with students gaining an additional 22 points on the state mathematics assessment.
• Long Beach Unified reported students who used Khan Academy gained twice the district average on the state assessment.
• Findings held true regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, family income or English language learner status.

Long Beach Unified superintendent Chris J. Steinhauser said the study shows that Khan Academy is worth an investment. "In Long Beach we continually seek ways to boost student achievement, and these results from Khan Academy are impressive," said Steinhauser. "We're heartened to see the results and extremely proud of the hard work our students put in and the tremendous support their teachers provided."

Dr. Christopher Lund, Long Beach Unified assistant superintendent, said, "While students in the district improved three percent in mathematics, the students in the Khan Academy study had a six percent gain, twice the district average."

As a large urban school district, Long Beach Unified serves 72,200 students representing a wide range of diversity: 

• Sixty percent of students identify as Hispanic, 12 percent as Black/African American and 12 percent as white.
• Sixty-five percent of students are socioeconomically disadvantaged.
• Fifteen percent are English language learners.

Khan Academy hopes that Khan Academy Districts will give teachers across the United States the tools to deliver meaningful learning gains for every student in their classrooms.

"Teachers are the heart of learning," said Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy. "With Khan Academy Districts, teachers have access to content they trust plus the tools and district support they need to accelerate their classrooms in ways they've always wanted."

Watch a video about Khan Academy use in a Long Beach classroom.

Khan Academy Districts provides tools, professional development and data insights to help teachers, district administrators and principals drive student achievement district wide. District leaders gain insights into student progress via reports on usage and impact.

"Our partnership with Khan Academy has been a valuable part of our ongoing efforts to elevate student outcomes by deepening students' ability to master curriculum and reach learning targets," said Compton Unified School District superintendent Darin Brawley. "The data insights and support for teachers contribute to helping us to move the needle on student achievement, which has risen nearly five percent on the state mathematics assessment for 6th through 11th graders."

Khan Academy is proud to partner with districts to unlock student potential at scale, with a focus on underserved populations.

"One of our core values in Madera Unified is equity before equality," said Madera superintendent Todd Lile. "We see Khan Academy as an important equity tool which will assist our teachers to provide differentiated levels of support to our students based on individual needs, enabling our students to increase mastery of skills." 

Students have access to materials at a level just right for them.  Additionally, teachers receive year-round, wrap-around support.

"Khan Academy has been a great support for students and teachers," said Erin Hill, a teacher at Millikan High School in Long Beach. "Teachers have been given the power to choose the tools they need to be most effective and give their students the resources needed in order to be most successful in the classroom."

By joining Khan Academy Districts, school districts will support teachers through training and implementation and help offset the cost of the investment Khan Academy is making in technology and training.

Khan Academy Districts is available for school districts everywhere for the 2020-2021 school year. Interested districts can learn more here.

About Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the mission of providing a free world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Khan Academy's mastery learning system and content platform include thousands of exercises, videos and articles that cover a range of K–12  subjects, and they're always free for teachers, students, parents and learners around the world. More than 18 million learners use Khan Academy every month. Two hundred thousand teachers use Khan Academy in their classrooms. Khan Academy relies upon donations from foundations, corporations and individuals around the world. For more information, please visit khanacademy.org, and join us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

About Long Beach Unified School District

The Long Beach Unified School District has earned a reputation as one of the United States' finest school systems, winning many awards as a national and international model of excellence. Established in 1885, LBUSD now educates more than 72,000 students from preschool to high school in 85 public schools located in the cities of Long Beach, Lakewood, Signal Hill and Avalon on Catalina Island.

SOURCE Khan Academy

Related Links

https://www.khanacademy.org