This blog post summarizes Khan Academy research on whether time spent using the platform leads to measurable learning gains.
Rather than comparing students who used Khan Academy with students who did not, the study compared students to themselves across two school years. The analysis examined how changes in Khan Academy usage related to changes in student performance from year to year.
The findings showed that students who increased their Khan Academy usage from one year to the next saw notable improvements in gains on the MAP Growth test. The trend was consistent across different grades and demographic groups.
The study used the Conditional Growth Index to track student growth while accounting for factors such as starting scores and grade levels. The post explains that even a small increase in Khan Academy usage was associated with a meaningful increase in student growth.
The authors also discuss possible classroom effects and explain how the analysis accounted for teacher-level differences in average Khan Academy usage and test-score gains.
The post concludes that time invested in Khan Academy can lead to real and measurable learning gains, while noting that no study is perfect.