Content update: Upcoming restructuring to reading and vocab courses

We’ve made several updates to Khan Academy’s reading and vocab courses for grades 4–10.

These changes are designed to make it easier for teachers and students to quickly identify targeted skills practice and instructional resources.

Although some courses may look different, most of these changes are focused on organization and clarity rather than on major content changes.

This update is part of Khan Academy’s 2026 back-to-school content rollout. You can view the full BTS 2026 content overview here.

What’s changing?

Unit names now focus on skills

Reading comprehension units are now organized around Common Core-aligned skill groups such as:

• Key ideas and details
• Craft and structure
• Integration of knowledge and ideas

Previously, units used broader thematic titles like Heroes and Heroines. The new naming structure is designed to make it easier to quickly identify the skills covered in a unit.

Articles have been renamed

Our ELA articles provide instruction, modeling, and opportunities for low-stakes practice. These resources follow an “I do / we do / you do” instructional model and can be used independently by students or as part of whole-class or small-group instruction. 

To help teachers and students better understand the content of the articles, they now use this naming format:

Skill name | Guided practice

For example:

• Making inferences → Making inferences | Guided practice

Vocabulary instruction is moving into separate units

For grades 4–10, vocabulary practice is being moved into standalone vocabulary units rather than being embedded within reading comprehension units. These new vocabulary units will cover both high-frequency, high-utility grade-level words, as well as transferable skills like using context clues, roots, and affixes to determine word meanings.

This change is intended to give teachers more flexibility when assigning vocabulary practice and make it easier for students to access reading passages without needing to pre-learn vocabulary first.

Will this affect mastery progress?

Most courses had 2 - 3 exercises added. More exercises: more opportunities to level up. This does mean that users may experience a change in their mastery %. These changes do not remove previously completed work or accomplishments.

Most mastery percentage decreases are expected to be relatively small and are tied to the addition of new exercises.

Why are these changes being made?

Based on feedback from teachers, these updates are intended to make Khan Academy’s ELA courses easier to use in classrooms and easier to align with existing curriculum and coursework.

The updated structure is designed to help teachers:

• quickly identify relevant skills practice
• assign targeted instruction more easily
• use vocabulary practice more flexibly

If you have any questions, comment below or feel free to reach out!