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Randolph County Schools reports midyear I‑Ready gains; Khan Academy pilot shows modest use
Summary
District presenters reported midyear I‑Ready diagnostic gains in K–5 and the district’s first year with Khan Academy for grades 9–12; presenters cited ECats, WVDE coaching and targeted supports while noting average Khan practice was about 6 minutes/week versus a 30‑minute target.
Randolph County Schools staff presented midyear assessment results and an initial review of a new Khan Academy partnership for high‑school SAT practice at the board’s regular meeting.
Presenters described I‑Ready midyear shifts in tier definitions (light/dark green = tier 1; yellow = tier 2; red shades = tier 3) and reported improvements in early grades. For example, presenters said kindergarten and first grade showed substantial gains in students at or above grade level and that third grade reduced the share of students two grade levels or more below from about 15% to 7% in ELA. Staff credited ECats (paraprofessional instructional support K–3), targeted trainings, small‑group instruction, i‑Ready data dives and in‑class coaching as contributors to those gains.
The district also described its first year partnering with Khan Academy for grades 9–12 to provide SAT‑style practice and automated rostering via WVEIS and Clever. Susan, who led the Khan presentation, reported school‑level increases in course‑challenge percentages (examples cited in the presentation: Elkins High reading/writing moved from about 29.9% to 34.6%; other schools showed gains). She also said district averages for weekly SAT practice were far below the stated target: "since we started this in October, we've only averaged about 6 minutes per week across all the schools and all the grades," she said, while the implementation guidance suggests 30 minutes/week of focused SAT practice could drive larger gains.
Presenters described course‑mastery and completion statistics: district‑average course mastery was reported at about 14.8% for SAT math courses and 23.9% for reading/writing. Staff noted local implementation differences by school (for example, use of Khan in advisory, intervention or homeroom) and described efforts to align ninth‑ and tenth‑grade PSAT administration with Khan Academy pathways to improve diagnostic accuracy.
Board members and staff discussed strategies to improve student engagement — including school‑level incentives and student input on motivating rewards — and cautioned that weather and other disruptions had depressed practice time. Presenters emphasized that Khan is an additional resource and not mandated at middle school, while elementary supports rely more on structured adult‑led interventions.
Next steps: district staff said they will continue i‑Ready coaching, expand teacher supports and work with school leaders on implementation plans to increase Khan use where appropriate. The board did not take formal action on these presentations during the meeting.
