This forum has highlighted past praise for an educational innovation known as the Khan Academy. (No, John Hood, this has nothing to do with Star Trek.) Now the Pacific Research Institute has released a new report touting Khan’s potential benefits for California schools.
In pilot programs conducted among fifth and seventh grade classrooms in the Los Altos school district in Silicon Valley, student achievement on state math exams improved in both grades, and relative to the year before, their average on grade level exam improved by 106 percent. The Khan Academy is also being piloted in several California charter schools.
Cost Savings
According to Mr. [Lance] Izumi, the Khan Academy could also save valuable tax dollars by allowing teachers to spend half of the time previously spent on whole-class instruction and allow for more time spent on dynamic/personalized learning. As a result, the school would not need as many teachers since the whole-group lectures could be overseen by a less costly learning-lab para-professional.
Mr. Izumi writes that despite the successes of the Khan Academy and other digital learning tools, barriers exist in its expansion and integration in California. “The success of the Khan Academy in the schools is hampered by the monopolistic grip of government on the school system and its ability to shut out innovators like Khan. Many educators falsely believe that the Khan Academy’s success cannot be replicated in other school districts. Moreover, the various regulations and laws that require a minimum number of classroom-based minutes per school day and/or a minimum percentage of classroom-based instruction impede its expansion,” Mr. Izumi said.
