Beyond the Score: Why “Explain Your Thinking” Matters

Dr. Tim Krieg, Director of Secondary Education, School City of Hobart

The more I think about Explain Your Thinking, Khanmigo, Khanductor, Khan Reimagined, and Writing Coach, the more I believe this work has truly transformative potential—not some day in the future, not after a massive overhaul, but right now if schools use it on purpose.

Because let’s be honest: policy alone will not save us from AI. Neither will another dashboard, another report, or another “We’ll look at the data” conversation. In an AI-shaped world, schools need to get clearer about what counts as learning. Not just finished work. Not just correct answers. Not just polished products. Thinking.

That is what makes Explain Your Thinking feel different. It moves us from “Did the student get it right?” to “How is the student thinking?” And that shift is not a huge lift; it’s is a doable one.

As a former ELA teacher, current district administrator, adjunct professor, and girl dad, I care deeply about that shift. A tool can summarize, solve, draft, and generate in seconds. But learning is not answer production. Students still need to reason, explain, revise, transfer, and own the thinking.

That is where Explain Your Thinking matters. It helps make the invisible work of learning visible. Did the student rush? Guess? Memorize a procedure? Misread the text? Misunderstand vocabulary? Struggle to support a claim? Apply a strategy without knowing why it worked? Those questions change what happens next.

And that is the whole point. Intervention should not be the same instruction delivered a little slower and a little louder. If the issue is vocabulary, we should not treat it like computation. If the issue is confidence, we should not treat it like comprehension. If the issue is reasoning, we should not treat it like effort.

Students have to build proficiency for themselves but absolutely not by themselves.

That is why the “sit beside” idea of assessment resonates with me. Assessment should not just stand at the finish line with a clipboard. At its best, assessment sits beside students, listens to their thinking, and helps teachers understand what students are ready for next.

That is what makes Khan Reimagined so compelling. Khanductor can provide actionable assessment insight. Khanmigo can support students through thinking-focused guidance. Explain Your Thinking can make reasoning visible. Writing Coach can strengthen writing without replacing the student as the thinker and author.

This does not require schools to blow everything up and start over. It requires a better frame: use the tools to connect instruction, practice, assessment, feedback, intervention, writing development, and responsible AI use.

For school leaders, this raises the question we cannot afford to dodge: Are we moving the needle for students or just getting better at predicting who will be proficient?

That one sticks with me because the students in our classrooms are not data points waiting to be sorted. They are learners trying to make meaning. My daughter will be one of them. I do not want her learning experience defined by how accurately adults can predict her performance. I want it shaped by how well adults respond to her thinking.

That is the promise of Explain Your Thinking. It helps schools move from prediction to response.

The tool will not become powerful simply because it exists. The framing matters. If students see it as one more box to check, it becomes compliance. If teachers see it as one more report to filter through, it becomes noise. But if schools frame it as a practical way to define what counts, make thinking visible, strengthen feedback, guide intervention, improve writing, and build student ownership, then it becomes something much more meaningful.

The tool creates the opportunity. Intentional implementation makes it doable.

Used well, Explain Your Thinking, Khanmigo, Khanductor, Khan Reimagined, and Writing Coach can help us move toward a model where students have to think it, show it, and own it.

And that is why I believe this work matters—not because it gives us more data but because it gives us a better chance to do something with it.

Dr. Tim Krieg is the Director of Secondary Curriculum & Instruction for the School City of Hobart in Hobart, Indiana. As a leader in a Khan Academy District, he has helped guide the district’s work as an early pilot partner for both Khanmigo and Khan Academy Interim Assessments. His experience centers on supporting students and educators through thoughtful implementation of AI, high-quality instructional practices, and innovative assessment to further merge learning and assessment within the reimagined Khan Academy ecosystem.