School district reports test scores rise with mastery learning on Khan Academy

School district reports test scores rise with mastery learning on Khan Academy We’re happy to share new research results for mastery learning on Khan Academy and a new video that shows how mastery learning works.The Centennial School District in Warminster, Pennsylvania, reports that middle school students who spent at least 30 minutes per week doing mastery learning on Khan Academy had 33% higher growth on the NWEA MAP mathematics assessment than students who used Khan Academy for less than 15 minutes per week. Elementary school students had 19% higher growth.Kudos to the kids at Centennial for all their hard work!Mastery learning is an educational philosophy centered on self-paced learning. Unlike traditional learning, students in mastery-learning classrooms are not pushed ahead in lockstep, which can cause the accumulation of debilitating “Swiss-cheese” gaps in knowledge.In mastery learning, students learn at their own pace. They progress through questions and quizzes at just the right level for them. They get feedback as they learn and help when they need it most. Teachers track student progress, identify gaps, and give students one-on-one attention to help them succeed. Mastery learning is backed by decades of research. The noted researcher Benjamin Bloom first coined the term mastery learning in 1968 and published a seminal 1984 study that documented its promise. A 1994 analysis of nearly 300 studies on mastery learning found that mastery learning has a “positive effect on achievement at all levels and for all subjects and results in positive affective outcomes for students and teachers.”Mastery lessons on Khan Academy are available for Kâ€"12 math, grammar, high school biology, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Physics 1, AP Statistics, AP Government and Politics, and AP Macroeconomics.We’ll add new subjects with mastery throughout the school year. Onward!