Khan Academy and NWEA Announce Partnership to Help Teachers Integrate Personalized Learning and Assessment to Accelerate Student Learning

MAP Accelerator empowers teachers to easily differentiate instruction for all studentsMore than 150,000 students in four school districts across the nation to pilot new tool this fall

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NWEA

Jun 06, 2019, 12:00 ET

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. and PORTLAND, Ore., June 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Not-for-profit organizations Khan Academy and NWEA announced a new partnership between the two organizations and the co-creation of MAP Accelerator, a unique classroom tool designed to help teachers deeply integrate personalized learning and assessment to accelerate student learning.

MAP Accelerator is being developed jointly by Khan Academy and NWEA to help school districts and teachers easily and effectively differentiate instruction for students with diverse academic needs, particularly traditionally underserved students. The new platform, powered by Khan Academy, helps teachers quickly and easily deliver personalized learning pathways to each student based on MAP Growth results. Teachers are empowered with rich insights to identify which students need extra support to fill gaps and accelerate learning while also maintaining flexibility to implement the tool in the best way to serve their class.

MAP Accelerator will be piloted in limited release during the 2019-2020 school year for grades 3-8 in Math, English and Spanish with English-Language Arts support introduced with general availability the following school year.

This fall, more than 150,000 students in four school districts across the nation will pilot MAP Accelerator as part of a limited pilot program. These districts include Madera Unified School District, Pajaro Valley Unified School District, and Glendale Unified School District in California; and Clark County School District in Nevada.

"Madera Unified is excited to partner with Khan Academy and NWEA to pilot the MAP Accelerator tool," said Todd Lile, Madera Unified Superintendent. "We are optimistic that this tool will help our teachers deeply integrate personalized learning and assessments to accelerate student learning for all our students."

"If I had to pick between an amazing teacher and amazing technology, I'd pick the teacher every time. That is why we wanted to build a tool that really empowers teachers. Partnering with NWEA takes our tools and resources for teachers to the next level," said Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy. "We've long heard from teachers who want to use MAP Growth as more than just a benchmark. Now teachers are able to inform personalized practice that integrates with any curriculum so they can help focus student learning on what is needed most. And it is simple and time-saving, which is super important since teachers already have so much on their plates."

"Khan Academy is a truly innovative organization with a mission very similar to ours. Our partnership helps teachers make better decisions about the next instructional step for every student through a close connection between MAP Growth assessment results and suggested Khan instructional resources," said Chris Minnich, CEO of NWEA. "Teacher-informed and teacher-driven, MAP Accelerator enables students to focus on their own needs, and empowers teachers to support them every step of the way with actionable data."

MAP Growth provides a precise measurement of a student's academic performance and growth. As a computer-adaptive assessment, it adjusts to each student's responses to provide individual personalized results about what each student knows, and is ready to learn next— whether on, above, or below grade level. MAP Growth assessment is taken three times a year by 11 million students in grades K-12 for Math, English-Language Arts and Science.

Khan Academy's mastery learning system is a trusted online learning resource for teachers, providing access to high-quality, standards-aligned content that helps to unlock student potential.

In a recent study, the Centennial School District near Philadelphia reported that middle school students who spent at least 30 minutes per week doing mastery learning on Khan Academy had 33 percent higher growth on the MAP Growth mathematics assessment compared to students who used Khan Academy for less than 15 minutes per week.

To watch the announcement video, visit www.nwea.org/khan-partnership

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 includes thousands of exercises, videos, and articles that covers a range of K-12 subjects and is always free for teachers, students, parents, and learners around the world. More than 200,000 teachers and 18 million learners use Khan Academy every month. Khan Academy relies upon donations from foundations, corporations, and individuals around the world. For more information, please visit khanacademy.org, or join us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

About NWEA
NWEA^® is a mission-driven, not-for-profit organization that supports students and educators worldwide by creating assessment solutions that precisely measure growth and proficiency— and provide insights to help tailor instruction. For more than 40 years, NWEA has developed innovative Pre-K–12 assessments, professional learning that fosters educators' ability to accelerate student learning, and research that supports assessment validity and data interpretation. Educators in more than 10,000 schools, districts, and education agencies in 141 countries rely on our flagship interim assessment, MAP^® Growth™; our progress monitoring and skills mastery tool, MAP® Skills™; and our reading fluency and comprehension assessment, MAP^® Reading Fluency™.

SOURCE NWEA