Khan Academy Receives $2.2 Million Grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust to Create Common Core-Aligned Online Content and Tools for Mathematics

NEW YORK, May 20, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust today announces that it is awarding Khan Academy a $2.2 million grant over a two-year period to support its efforts toward developing a comprehensive set of online content and tools that are aligned with the grade 4-12 Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for Mathematics. Adopted by 46 states and the District of Columbia, these new standards specifically outline the skills a student needs to master in order to be prepared to succeed in college and the workforce. High-quality tools and resources aligned with these standards are needed to support teachers with the instructional shifts required by the CCSS.
Khan Academy currently has thousands of practice problems and videos mapped to the CCSS for Mathematics. With the support of the Helmsley Charitable Trust, Khan Academy will now begin building enhanced CCSS-aligned diagnostic capabilities with the goal of enabling students and teachers to better diagnose and identify gaps in learning. In addition, Khan Academy will continue to build content to more deeply cover the CCSS for Mathematics.
This initiative represents Khan Academy's focus toward providing millions of students and teachers with free, high-quality mathematics materials. These resources will continue to be developed by Khan Academy in conjunction with a team of mathematics teachers and experts.
"With the transition to the new Common Core standards, we are thrilled to have the support of the Helmsley Charitable Trust, which has been a leading supporter of efforts to effectively implement the new standards. Their support will ensure that we continue to produce high quality resources that can be used in the classroom," said Sal Khan, Founder of Khan Academy. "We expect that our new diagnostic tools and expanded question offerings will greatly improve the user experience for CCSS and non-CCSS students alike. The close alignment with these standards will ensure a comprehensive learning experience, and our new tools will help our users more easily diagnose and meet their learning needs. The tools will also enable teachers, parents, and tutors to more quickly identify their students' knowledge gaps and give them more time to work directly with their students."
"With few great mathematics CCSS resources available, navigating and covering the full curriculum is a challenge for many teachers," says Zach Miller, a mathematics teacher working with Khan Academy. "Khan Academy's existing resources have already been a transformative tool for many classrooms. With their enhanced materials, I and many other teachers will be even more confident in our ability to cover CCSS and provide a comprehensive learning experience."
"Khan Academy has demonstrated remarkable success in helping students advance at their own pace and allowing teachers to differentiate instruction in powerful ways for struggling and advanced students alike," said Rich McKeon, Program Director of the Helmsley Charitable Trust's Education Program. "We are excited to help facilitate Khan Academy's initiative to provide more in-depth mathematics CCSS materials that are aligned with college- and career-ready standards, and we believe that these free resources will have a meaningful impact on how students nationwide acquire the mathematics skills they will need to succeed."
About Khan Academy
Khan Academy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit with a mission of providing a free world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Khan Academy provides free online educational materials (e.g., instructional videos, assessment exercises, dashboard analytics, teacher tools) that support personalized, mastery-based, interactive education for users of all ages in a scalable way. In the last two years, the organization has delivered over 250 million lessons, and its users have collectively answered 1 billion math problems. Currently, Khan Academy has 6 million users per month and 3 million math problems completed per day. Khan Academy covers subjects from basic Math to college level Biology and Art History.
www.khanacademy.org
About the Helmsley Charitable Trust
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting effective nonprofits in a variety of selected areas. Since 2008, when the Trust began its active grantmaking, it has committed more than $800 million to a wide range of charitable organizations. Through its National Education Program, the Trust views education as a lever to advance both American economic competitiveness and individual social mobility. In K-12, the Trust focuses on ensuring all students graduate high school prepared for college or careers by supporting teacher effectiveness and the implementation of high academic standards. In postsecondary education, the Trust is primarily interested in increasing the number of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students who persist to graduation in STEM majors, allowing them to participate in high growth sectors of the economy. The Trust also focuses on policy levers that improve postsecondary completion, particularly for underrepresented populations. For more information, please visit www.helmsleytrust.org.