Welcome to the Fall 2026 edition of Sal Khan’s Quarterly Newsletter for District Leaders.
Two live events coming up I’m looking forward to:
- My Superintendent Series continues this school year, with our first live case study taking place on September 23. I’m sitting down and interviewing the leadership team at West Hempstead Union Free School District on Long Island: Superintendent Daniel Rehman, Assistant Superintendent Dina Reilly, and Director of ENL and Instructional Technology Dr. Katie DiGregorio.
Their superintendent asks for “return on learning” rather than return on investment—as in, “Show me what students learned and how deeply they know it.” That is a hard standard to meet, and New York’s shift toward demonstrations of proficiency raises the bar again. I want to hear the specifics of how they’re doing it. Join us 9/23 → 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT.
The 2026 Annual SAT Prep Webinar for District Leaders will take place again this October the 21st. Join my colleagues from College Board and Khan Academy Districts for a rundown of what students will need to be successful this year. Sign up now → Sign up now
What I’m learning from our district partners
- Case Study: West Hempstead (New York). Assessment is shifting toward demonstrated proficiency and mastery. See how West Hempstead UFSD turned “Return on Learning” from a phrase into a working system: district-wide Khanmigo adoption, skill-level evidence, and instruction built for New York’s new graduation requirements.Read the case study →
- Case Study: JFK High School (Colorado). Denver’s JFK High School built a weekly PSAT data routine, then took it classroom to classroom. Read the case study →
What I’m thinking about
- In her August reflection, our chief learning officer, Dr. Kristen DiCerbo, shared a framework for district decision-makers to use when picking which problem to work on. Read the full article →
- Some people heard my recent comments about Khanmigo and interpreted them as “AI tutoring failed.” That is not what I said, and it is not what I believe. Here’s how my thinking is evolving →.
- Tim Krieg, director of secondary education at School City of Hobart, pushes us to be real about what our assessments are doing: “Are we moving the needle for students or just getting better at predicting who will be proficient?” Read his take→.
Before you go
We hope you find this newsletter interesting and will share it with your colleagues. You can refer them to the newsletter by giving them this link.
Best,
Sal and Khan Academy team
