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What are Khan Academy Interim Assessments and how do they work?

Updated

This article provides a general overview of how assessments work at Khan Academy. If you're just getting started, we recommend exploring the resources below to help you begin.

Recommended resources:

Quick start guides:

Khan Academy assesses student understanding with flexible, standards-aligned assessments you can give throughout the school year.

If your school or district is using Khan Academy assessments, this article will give you a quick overview of what they are, what makes them different, and where to go for more details.
 

What are Khan Academy assessments?

Khan Academy assessments are short, online tests designed to help educators get a clearer picture of how students are progressing on key grade-level standards. These assessments are:

  • Designed to measure progress on key grade-level math and ELA concepts
  • Delivered online
  • Intended to be taken at key moments during the school year (like mid-year and end-of-year)

These assessments are currently available to participating districts for:

  • Mathematics: Grades 6, 7, 8, Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II
  • English Language Arts: Grades 6, 7, 8, 9-10, 11-12

Interim Assessments are not currently available for Texas.

 

What makes these assessments different?

Khan Academy assessments combine traditional question formats with new ways to explore student thinking.

Some assessments include:

  • Explain Your Thinking (EYT): For selected math questions, students briefly interact with Khanmigo, our AI tutor, to explain their reasoning.
  • Short responses: In ELA assessments, students write short, open-ended answers to prompts.

Question types may include:

  • Multiple choice
  • Numeric input
  • Drop-down menus
  • Expression entry
  • Interactive graphing
  • Short written responses
  • Khanmigo conversations (math only)

These formats help capture a broader picture of what students know and how they approach problems.
 

How long do they take?

Each assessment takes about one class period (typically 45 minutes). Students can pause and return to the test if needed, as long as they complete it within two weeks or the testing window set by your school or district, whichever comes first. For this year's specific testing window dates, see When are the interim assessments offered?
 

How do students take the assessments?

Assessments are taken online:

  • On a Chromebook or computer (mobile devices are not supported)
  • While students are logged into their Khan Academy account
  • Using a direct link shared by the teacher

Each student sees one question at a time and progresses forward without going back to previous questions. Math assessments adapt question-by-question (Computerized Adaptive Testing, or CAT); ELA assessments adapt after groups of questions (Multi-Stage Testing, or MST).
 

What happens after students finish?

After completing the test, students may see a short feedback survey. Score availability and reporting will depend on your school or district's settings. In some cases, data may be used for internal insights but not shared directly with students or families.
 

A note about our assessments

All Khan Academy assessments go through several development phases to ensure they are fair, valid, and reliable. Assessments move through three phases: Pilot, Beta, and Live.

  • Pilot assessments are designed to collect testing data and feedback. These assessments are not adaptive and do not include scores and are not intended to be used for instructional decisions
  • Beta (aka Early Access) assessments are adaptive and include scores and topic-level breakdowns to help surface early insights. They are still in development and may not yet include features like performance levels or percentiles
  • Live assessments have completed pilot and beta testing and include scores, performance levels, and percentiles.

Current assessments and their phase:

Beta assessments (include scores and domain breakdowns):

  • Grade 6 Math
  • Grade 7 Math
  • Grade 8 Math
  • Algebra I
  • Geometry
  • Grade 9-10 ELA
  • Grade 11-12 ELA

Pilot assessments (no scores/reporting included yet):

  • Grade 6 ELA
  • Grade 7 ELA
  • Grade 8 ELA
  • Algebra II

Your participation helps us improve the quality and fairness of our assessments. Thank you for being part of this important process.
 

Curious about the student experience? We created a "sandbox" for each assessment so you can try it out.

Note: You can only go through each sandbox experience once.