Khan Academy Quick Start Guide
Start the 2026–27 school year with focused practice and a clear picture of student understanding.
Set up your class, assign a manageable learning task, and use student work to decide what to teach next. Begin with one learning target, one short practice activity, and a fresh opportunity for students to explain their thinking.
Before You Begin
Your account and class
Use your school’s approved sign-in method. Confirm your current class, student roster, and course before assigning work.
Your learning target
Choose one skill that supports your instruction. Preview the explanation, practice questions, reading demand, and prerequisite knowledge.
Your evidence of learning
Plan a short explanation or independent task alongside online practice. Decide what a successful response should show.
New for 2026–27: Khan Academy has redesigned its classroom experience. This guide uses the Reimagined assignment and reporting workflow. Returning teachers should check their current menus before following older tutorials. See the official school-year update.
Set Up for the School Year
Confirm the roster and rehearse one complete assignment before building a larger routine.
Confirm your school account and starting point
Open Khan Academy and sign in with your approved school account. Confirm that you can access the teacher dashboard and the expected classes. If your district manages rostering, resolve missing classes with your school contact before creating duplicates.
Khan Academy’s core courses and practice resources are free. This guide covers the main Khan Academy platform. Khan Academy Kids has a separate setup guide for preschool through second grade.
Student access to additional tools such as Khanmigo activities depends on the access enabled for your school and students. You can complete this first lesson with ordinary content assignments.
Create or confirm this year’s class
For a teacher-managed class, use the dashboard’s class creation option. Give each section a clear name, such as 2026–27 · Period 2 · Grade 6 Math, and choose the relevant course.
Import an approved class
If you use Google Classroom and your school supports this connection, use the import option. Review the resulting roster and course before assigning work.
Use a class code
For a manually managed class, share its join code through your approved classroom channel. Have students join using their existing school-approved accounts, then check their names against your roster.
Use your school’s account-creation process for students who need accounts, especially younger learners. Keep individual login information private. Confirm access for a newly enrolled student before assuming that earlier assignments are available.
Choose content practice or a Unit Mission
Content assignment: start small
Assign a specific video, article, or exercise that matches today’s learning target. For your first lesson, select one short explanation and one practice activity.
Unit Mission: build a longer routine
Use a Unit Mission for mastery-based work across a unit. Set a manageable pace and discuss how students should use feedback and seek help.
Returning teachers: Unit Missions replace the former Unit Mastery Goals. Course Mastery Goals do not transfer into the redesigned experience, although existing student progress remains. Rebuild an ongoing course routine with appropriately paced Unit Missions.
Make one assignment and test the student view
- On the dashboard, select a class under My Classes and choose Create an assignment.
- Choose Khan Academy Content, select a course, and choose your activity.
- Review the assignment details, due date, and receiving classes before assigning.
You can also select the class on the Assignments tab and choose Add assignment.
With an approved test account or a student during your first supervised session, confirm that the correct class and task appear, one response can be submitted, and progress is visible to the teacher. Students may need to change their class or learning-queue filter to find the work.
Check readability, audio needs, keyboard access, and the learner’s usual assistive technology on the actual device. Prepare an equivalent oral or paper task when needed.
Current assignment instructions · Understand the student learning queue
Teach Your First Lesson
Use online practice to support instruction, then collect a clear demonstration of the learning target.
Teach one idea before assigning practice
Example learning target, grade 6: Generate equivalent ratios and explain why both quantities must scale by the same factor.
Show a mixture with 2 red counters for every 3 blue counters. Build two identical groups, then connect the model to 4 red and 6 blue. Say: “We doubled the number of groups, so we doubled both quantities.”
In your course, find and preview an explanation and exercise on equivalent ratios or ratio tables. Select the material that fits your class; the prompts below are SDLA-created classroom examples, not a claim about a particular Khan Academy exercise.
Pair the activity with visible evidence
| Teach it | Ask students to demonstrate | What successful learning looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Build one group of 2 red and 3 blue counters. | Describe the relationship in words. | “There are 2 red counters for every 3 blue counters.” The quantities stay in the stated order. |
| Make two identical groups. | Draw the combined collection and write its ratio. | Draws 4 red and 6 blue; explains that both original quantities were multiplied by 2. |
| Extend a ratio table with columns Red and Blue. | Complete the pairs (2, 3), (4, 6), and (6, __). | Enters 9 and explains that three original groups contain 6 red and 9 blue. |
| Compare 2:3 with 4:5. | Explain whether adding 2 to both numbers preserves the ratio. | Says no; doubling 2 requires doubling 3 to 6. Uses groups, a diagram, or a table to justify the answer. |
Accept drawings, manipulatives, oral explanations, or written reasoning that demonstrate the same mathematical relationship. A language support such as “I multiplied both quantities by ___ because ___” can help students express their thinking.
Release a short period of purposeful practice
Have students open the correct class and assigned exercise. Set a brief work period, such as 8–10 minutes, and explain the help routine: try a model, use available instructional support, and ask for help when the explanation still does not make sense.
Ask students to keep one worked example and mark where they needed support. Circulate and ask, “What stayed the same?” and “Why did you change both numbers?” Pause for a shared model if the same misunderstanding appears repeatedly.
A useful teaching move: When a student changes 2:3 to 4:5, have them build two complete copies of the original group. Ask them to compare the model with their proposed numbers and revise the explanation.
Collect a fresh independent response
After practice, give this exit task: “A paint mixture uses 3 cups of yellow for every 2 cups of blue. How much blue is needed with 9 cups of yellow? Show or explain why.”
Look for: 6 cups of blue, supported by three copies of the original mixture, a ratio table, or a statement that both quantities are multiplied by 3.
Then ask whether 9 cups of yellow and 8 cups of blue would preserve the original mixture. A successful explanation rejects adding 6 to both quantities and connects equivalent ratios to a common scale factor.
Collect the work on paper, orally, or through an approved classroom tool. Note any help given so you can distinguish supported practice from an independent demonstration.
Adapt the routine to another grade or subject
- Elementary: Pair multiplication practice with a fresh array drawing and an explanation of equal groups.
- Secondary math: Pair equation practice with a new equation and a justification for each transformation.
- Science or history: Pair an assigned explanation or article with a short claim supported by specific evidence.
Keep the same rhythm: teach a focused idea, practice it, then ask students to apply or explain it in a new example.
Review, Respond, and Troubleshoot
Read the report alongside student reasoning, then choose one specific teaching response.
Choose the report that answers your question
| Your question | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Did students finish the assigned task? | Assignments Overview or Assignment scores. Check completion and performance together. |
| What did a learner answer? | Open an individual assignment and inspect its Responses report. |
| Which skills need attention? | Skills report for mastery levels; Activity report for a broader view of work and learning time. |
| How is a Unit Mission progressing? | Open the Unit Mission from Assignments and inspect Student summary, or open it through Reports → Assignments. |
Select the intended class and relevant time period where filters are available. Keep identifiable reports off the projected classroom screen.
Official guide to current teacher reports · Review Unit Mission progress
Separate completion, proficiency, and understanding
In Assignments Overview, a completed activity can still fall below Proficient. A completed item that is not mastery-enabled can also appear dark blue. Inspect the item and its status before interpreting a color as evidence of mastery.
Khan Academy’s skill levels include Not Started, Attempted, Familiar, Proficient, and Mastered. Proficient reflects successful skill practice; reaching Mastered involves demonstrating a proficient skill in mixed-skill assessment. These platform indicators describe performance on Khan Academy tasks.
Combine them with the student’s explanation and fresh exit response. Time spent, videos completed, rewards earned, and a unit percentage answer different questions from “Can this student explain and apply the idea independently?”
Use the results to plan the next lesson
- Ready to extend: Gives 6 cups and justifies the common scale factor. Ask for another equivalent mixture and a counterexample.
- Needs a prompt: Gives 6 cups but cannot explain why. Revisit the groups or ratio table and collect a verbal explanation.
- Needs reteaching: Adds the same amount to each quantity or scales only one. Rebuild the original mixture with counters, then ask for a fresh scaled example.
If practice results and the exit response disagree, talk with the student. Check the exact content, use of help, and task demands. After reteaching, use a new example to see whether the understanding transfers.
Resolve common first-week problems
| What you notice | What to check first |
|---|---|
| A class or student is missing. | Verify the school account and current roster. For district-managed classes, ask the roster contact to resolve the source record before creating a duplicate. |
| A student cannot find the assignment. | Check the selected class and learning-queue filter. Try All assignments and confirm that the teacher assigned the intended content to this class. |
| An assignment is missing from the teacher list. | Choose All assignments in the assignment dropdown, then verify the class and assignment details. |
| Older instructions do not match the screen. | Use the Reimagined help pages linked here. The older Assign and Mastery Goals navigation has changed. |
| The Course Mastery Goal or purple course report is gone. | Use Unit Missions and current unit-level reporting. Existing student progress remains, but Course Mastery Goals do not transfer. |
| A completed activity does not show proficiency. | Inspect the responses and skill status. Completion and successful performance are different signals. |
| A student joined after work was assigned. | Confirm the actual assignments in that learner’s queue. Assign any required missing content; do not assume all earlier work was inherited. |
| The student is stuck despite repeated practice. | Check prerequisite knowledge, reading demand, access needs, and the explanation used. Teach with a concrete example before adding more repetitions. |
First-Week Readiness Check
Ready for students
- School account, current class, course, and roster verified.
- One short assignment previewed and checked on a classroom device.
- Students can locate the task and know how to get help.
Ready to act on the evidence
- The learning target and success example are clear.
- You can find completion, responses, and relevant skill information.
- A fresh exit task and a reteaching example are ready.
Practice with Purpose. Teach with Evidence.
Start with one skill. Listen to the explanation. Use what you learn to plan the next step.
Open Khan Academy · Khan for Educators · SDLA Khan Academy product profile
2026–27 edition. Official documentation reviewed September 10, 2026. Menu labels and access may vary as the redesigned experience evolves. Instructional examples and readiness checks are provided by SDLA.