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My dad, brother, sister-in-law, and wife are all teachers, so my opinion on how amazing they are might be a tad bit biased. So don’t take my word for it, just check out what other people have to say about the incredible teachers and professors in their lives.
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Stephen
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LOS ANGELES — When Abram van der Fluit began teaching science more than two decades ago, he tried to ward off classroom disruption with the threat of suspension: “I had my consequences, and the third consequence was you get referred to the dean,” he recalled.
Suspending kids didn’t make them less defiant, he said, but getting them out of the school for a bit made his job easier. Now, suspensions for “willful defiance” are off the table at Maywood Academy High School, taking the bite out of van der Fluit’s threat.
Mikey Valladares, a 12th grader there, said when he last got into an argument with a teacher, a campus aide brought him to the school’s restorative justice coordinator, who offered Valladares a bottle of water and then asked what had happened. “He doesn’t come in … like a persecuting way,” Valladares said. “He’d just console you about it.”
Being listened to and treated with empathy, Valladares said, “makes me feel better.” Better enough to put himself in his teacher’s shoes, consider what he could have done differently — and offer an apology.
This new way of responding to disrespectful behavior doesn’t always work, according to van der Fluit. But “overall,” he said, “it’s a good thing.”
In 2013, the Los Angeles Unified School District banned suspensions for willfully defiant behavior, as part of a multi-year effort to move away from punitive discipline. The California legislature took note. Lawmakers argued that suspensions for relatively minor infractions, like talking back to a teacher, harmed kids, including by feeding the school-to-prison pipeline. Others noted that this ground for suspension was a subjective catch-all disproportionately applied to Black and Hispanic students.
A state law prohibiting willful defiance suspensions for grades K-3 went into effect in 2015; five years later, the ban was extended through eighth grade. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law adding high schoolers to the prohibition. It takes effect this July.
A Hechinger Report investigation reveals that the national picture is quite different. Across the 20 states that collect data on the reasons why students are suspended or expelled, school districts cited willful defiance, insubordination, disorderly conduct and similar categories as a justification for suspending or expelling students more than 2.8 million times from 2017-18 to 2021-22. That amounted to nearly a third of all punishments reported by those states.
As school districts search for ways to cope with the increase in student misbehavior that followed the pandemic, LAUSD’s experience offers insight into whether banning such suspensions is effective and under what conditions. In general, the district’s results have been positive: Data suggests that schools didn’t become less safe, more chaotic or less effective, as critics had warned.
From 2011-12 to 2021-22, as suspensions for willful defiance fell from 4,500 to near zero, suspensions across all categories fell too, to 1,633, a more than 90 percent drop, according to state data. Those numbers, plus in-depth research on the ban, show that educators in LAUSD didn’t simply find different justifications for suspending kids once willful defiance was off limits. Racial disparities in discipline remain, but they have been reduced.
Meanwhile, according to state survey data, students were less likely to report feeling unsafe in school. During the 2021-22 school year for example, 5 percent of LAUSD freshmen said they felt unsafe in school, compared with more than three times that nine years earlier. As for academics, state and federal data suggest that the district’s performance didn’t fall after the disciplinary shift, although the state switched tests over that decade, making precise comparison difficult.
Students miss hundreds of thousands of school days each year for subjective infractions like defiance and disorderly conduct, a Hechinger investigation revealed.
“It really points out that we can do this differently, and do it better,” said Dan Losen, senior director for the education team at the National Center for Youth Law.
Related: Preventing suspensions: Tackle discipline problems with empathy first
A pile of research demonstrates that losing class time negatively affects students. Suspensions are tied to lower grades, lower odds of graduating high school and a higher risk of being arrested or unemployed as an adult. Losen said this is in part because students who are suspended not only miss out on educational opportunities, but also lose access to the web of services many schools offer, including mental health treatment and meals.
That harm is less justifiable for minor transgressions, he added. And “what makes it even less justifiable is that there are alternative responses that work better and involve more adult interface for the student, not less.”
In part because of this research, Los Angeles, and then California, increasingly focused on disciplinary alternatives as they eliminated or narrowed the use of suspensions for willful defiance.
LAUSD gradually scaled up its investment, rolling out training in 2015 for teachers and administrators in “restorative” practices like the ones Valladares described. Educators were also encouraged to implement an approach called positive behavioral interventions and supports. Together, these strategies seek to address the root causes of challenging behavior. That means both preventing it and, when some still inevitably occurs, responding in a way that strengthens the relationship between student and school rather than undermining it.
The district also created new positions, hiring school climate advocates to give campuses a warm, constructive tone, and “system of support advisors,” or SOSAs, to train current employees in the new way of doing discipline. From August to October 2023, SOSAs offered 380 such sessions; since July 2021 alone, more than 23,000 district staff members and 2,400 parents have participated in restorative practices training, according to LAUSD.
All that work has been expensive: The district budgeted more than $31 million for school climate advocates, $16 million for restorative justice teachers and nearly $9 million for the SOSAs for this school year. Combined with spending on psychiatric social workers, mental health coordinators and campus aides, the district’s allocation for “school climate personnel” totaled more than $300 million this year.
That’s money other districts don’t have. And it’s part of what prompted the California School Boards Association to support the recent legislation only if it were amended to include more cash for alternative approaches to behavior management.
Troy Flint, the organization’s chief communications officer, said administrators in many remote, rural districts in particular do not have the bandwidth, or the ability to hire consultants, to train staff on new methods. Their schools also often lack a space for disruptive students who have had to leave class but can’t be sent home, and lack the adults needed to supervise them, he said. “You often have situations in these districts where you have a superintendent or principal who’s also a teacher, and maybe they drive a bus – they don’t have the capacity to implement all these programs,” said Flint.
The state’s 2023 budget allocated just $7 million, parceled out in grants of up to $100,000, for districts to implement restorative justice practices. If each got the full amount, only approximately 70 districts would receive funding — when there are more than a thousand districts in the state. Even then, the grants would give each district only a small fraction of what LAUSD has needed to make the shift.
Related: Hidden expulsions? Schools kick students out but call it a ‘transfer’
Even in LAUSD, the money only goes so far. The district of more than 1,000 schools employs nearly 120 restorative justice teachers, meaning only about a tenth of schools have one. Roughly a third of schools have a school climate advocate. SOSAs are stretched thin too, in some cases supporting as many as 25 schools each, and some budgeted SOSA positions haven’t been filled. There’s also the continual threat of lost funding: In recent years, the district has been using federal pandemic funding, which ends soon, to pay for some of the work. “School sites are having to make hard choices,” said Tanya Ortiz Franklin, an LAUSD school board member.
And money hasn’t been the district’s only challenge. Success requires buy-in, and buy-in requires a change in educators’ mindsets. Back in 2013, van der Fluit recalls, his colleagues’ perspective on the ban on willful defiance suspensions was often: “What is this hippie-dippie baloney?” Teachers also questioned the motives of district leaders, wondering if they wanted to avoid suspending kids because school funding is tied to average daily attendance.
Now, most days, van der Fluit sees things differently — but not always.
Last year, for example, when he asked a student who was late to get a tardy slip, she refused. She also refused when a campus aide, and then the restorative justice coordinator and then the principal, asked her to go to the school’s office. The situation was eventually resolved after her basketball coach arrived, but van der Fluit said it had been “a 20-minute thing, and I’m trying to teach in between all of this stuff.”
That sort of scene is rare at Maywood, van der Fluit said, but it happens. There are students “who just want to disrupt, and they know how to manipulate and control and are gaslighting and deflecting.” He described seeing a student with his phone out. When van der Fluit said, “You had your phone out,” the student denied it. Van der Fluit said there are days he feels “the district doesn’t have my back” under this new system. Researchers, legislators and school board members, he said, wear “rose-colored glasses.”
His concerns are not uncommon. But according to Losen, in LAUSD, “The main issue for teachers was that the teacher training was phased in while the policy change was not.”
In recent years there has been some parental pushback too: At a November 2023 meeting of the school district safety and climate committee, for example, a handful of parents described their kids’ schools as “out of control” and decried a “rampant lack of discipline.”
Ortiz Franklin acknowledged an uptick in behavioral incidents over the last three years, but attributed it to the pandemic and students’ isolation and loss, not the shift in disciplinary approach. Groups like Students Deserve, a youth-led, grassroots nonprofit, have urged LAUSD to hold the line on its positive, restorative approach.
“Our schools are not an uncontrollable, violent, off-the-wall place. They’re a place with kids who are dealing with an unprecedented level of trauma and need an unprecedented level of support,” said W. Joseph Williams, the group’s director.
District survey data presented at the same November meeting, meanwhile, suggests most teachers remain relatively committed to the policies: On a 1 to 4 scale, teachers rated their support for restorative practices at around a 3, on average, and principals rated it close to a 4.
Even van der Fluit, who maintains that the new way takes more work, said: “But is it the better thing for the student? For sure.”
At Maywood, Marcus Van, the restorative justice coordinator who met with Valladares after the teen argued with a teacher, said students have a chance to talk out their problems and grievances and resolve them. In contrast, Van said, “When you just suspend someone, you do not go through the process of reconciliation.”
Often, so-called defiant behavior is spurred by some larger issue, he said: “Maybe somebody has parents who are on drugs [or] abusive, maybe they have housing insecurity, maybe they have food insecurity, maybe they’re being bullied.” He added: “I think people want an easy fix for a complicated problem.”
Valladares, for his part, knows some people think suspensions breed school safety. But he said he feels safer — and behaves in a way that’s safer for others — when “I’m able to voice how I feel.”
Twelfth grader Yaretzy Ferreira said: “I feel like they actually hear us out, instead of just cutting us out.”
Her first year and a half at Maywood, she was “really hyper sassy,” according to Van. But, Ferreira recalled, that changed after Van invited her mom and a translator to a meeting: “He was like, ‘Your daughter did this, this, this, but we’re not here to get her in trouble. We’re here to help.’” Now, the only reason she ends up in Van’s office is for a water or a snack.
Van der Fluit said the new approach is better for all kids, not just those with a history of defiance. For example, the class that watched the tardy slip interaction unfold saw adults model how to successfully manage frustration and de-escalate a situation. “That’s incredibly valuable,” he said, “more valuable than learning photosynthesis.”
The Maywood campus is calmer than it used to be, educators at the school say. Students, for the most part, no longer roam the halls during class time. There’s less profanity, said history teacher Michael Melendez. Things are going “just fine” without willful defiance suspensions, he said.
Nationally, researchers have come to a similar conclusion: A 2023 report from the Learning Policy Institute, based on data for about 2 million California students, concluded that exposure to restorative practices improved academic achievement, behavior and school safety. A 2023 study on restorative programs in Chicago Public Schools, conducted by the University of Chicago Education Lab, found positive changes in how students viewed their schools, their in-school safety and their sense of belonging.
In Los Angeles, many students say the hard work of transitioning to a new disciplinary approach is worth it.
“We’re still kids in a way. We are growing, but there’s still corrections to be made,” said Valladares. “And what’s the point in a school if there’s no corrections, just instant punishment?”
This story about PBIS was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.
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Gail Cornwall
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Consider this a head’s up: This week’s newsletter is about poop.
Specifically, potty training.
In January, Utah Rep. Doug Welton introduced a bill that would require kindergarten students be potty trained before parents enroll them in school. Children who aren’t potty trained would be referred to a social worker or counselor.
Potty training — or the lack of it — clearly strikes a nerve with teachers.
“The fastest and number 1 way to get parents to potty train their kids at home is to call them to the school every time the child needs a diaper to be changed,” said a self-identified kindergarten teacher in one potty-training focused Reddit thread.
“My friend just started teaching kindergarten and says she has at least 1 in a diaper and probably another 2 in pull ups. I cannot fathom this,” said a daycare teacher in another Reddit thread that drew more than 1,000 comments.
So, are more children coming to school in diapers?
It’s a difficult question to answer, in part because it’s not data that is tracked, and also because there aren’t a lot of recent studies on potty training and the average age of children who master it. In the 1940s, toilet training generally started before children were 18 months old, according to an article in the magazine American Family Physician. Around 60 years later, in the mid-2000s, the same article said parents were generally starting toilet training when a child was 21 to 36 months old.
Those numbers haven’t significantly changed in the last couple of decades, according to Dr. Ari Brown, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a pediatrician of 28 years, based out of Austin, Texas. Typically developing children will be day trained between ages 2 to 3 1/2, and night-time training can take a few years longer, she said.
By 5, most children know how to use the bathroom. But having an accident at that age isn’t uncommon, and there are plenty of medical and behavioral reasons for these mishaps that have nothing to do with knowing how to use a toilet, Brown said. They can include physical complaints like constipation, fear of loud auto-flushing toilets, anxiety about large, crowded school bathrooms, or worry about asking a teacher for permission to leave.
“This is not a ‘toilet training’ issue and it should not preclude a child from attending school,” Brown said.
Although the legislation proposed in Utah allows for exceptions among students with a documented disability, Brown said medical issues like constipation might not show up on an individualized education program.
The Utah Department of Education does not track bathroom incidents in classrooms, and several local districts said they also have no data on this. The communications director for Alpine School District, the largest school system in Utah, said potty training incidents in the classroom is “not a trend that has surfaced as a concern (knock on wood).”
A communications administrator for the Nebo School District — located in an area represented by the bill’s sponsor — echoed that sentiment. “According to the teachers we have heard from, the rates are the same as they have always been, and there has not been a noticeable change,” he said.
But state leaders have heard otherwise.
Christine Elegante, a K-3 literacy specialist with the Utah Department of Education, said she heard from school districts that potty training kindergarteners was not a concern.
But she heard a different story when she had a statewide meeting with kindergarten program leaders.
“I was really taken aback by how many said that it was a problem, that they were seeing more and more kids that did not have the skillset they needed to be able to toilet themselves. If they had an accident, they weren’t capable of changing themselves,” Elegante said. “It was a bigger, more widespread problem that we hadn’t really heard of.”
After that meeting, Elegante said she heard from more elementary school principals who reported that potty training has become a bigger problem in kindergarten classrooms since the pandemic, particularly during this school year.
Elegante doesn’t know why students might be struggling with potty training more this year than any other, but she said schools have increased the number of full-day kindergarten classes they offer starting this year. Last year, 46 percent of kindergarteners in Utah were in a full-day program. This year, 77 percent attend full-day kindergarten. A full-day program essentially doubles the amount of time students are at school, from being in class for two to three hours a day to six or seven hours.
The increase in the amount of time in class could account for the rise in the likelihood that a child will have an accident at school. However, it doesn’t explain the claim that more kindergarteners do not know how to use the bathroom.
This isn’t the first time in recent years potty training in school has come up — pre-K teachers in Buffalo, New York, petitioned the school district to create a policy on potty training in 2019 because they said diaper-changing was taking up class time.
Unlike Utah, New York and New Jersey have laws that prevent schools from barring children from class because they are not potty trained.
Child care workers have always dealt with potty training, but schools are increasingly dealing with this for a simple reason: Children are coming to school at younger ages because there are far more pre-K classes located in schools than in years past, said Zeynep Ercan, president of the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators.
“You have public school teachers who are not used to seeing this kind of variation in development, and now they feel as though they have to be the caregivers [as well as] educators. These two concepts are always a conflict in child care and education systems,” Ercan said.
The expansion of pre-K is a good thing, Ercan said, but it also requires schools to adapt their environments.
“The issue is, how can we make our environments more developmentally appropriate for children? How are we ready for the children, versus how are children ready for it?” Ercan said.
Even though it’s unclear if schools are seeing more kindergarten students attend class in diapers, teachers can help prevent accidents by being flexible about when children go to the bathroom, said Brown, the Austin pediatrician.
“Teachers can play a pivotal role in normalizing the need to use the bathroom when the urge occurs and not stigmatizing a child who needs to stop their learning to do so,” Brown said.
This story about potty training was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.
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Ariel Gilreath
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An investigation in underway after a teacher was recorded grabbing and pulling on a young male student at Cleveland Middle School.
The incident reportedly took place on March 1.
The teacher captured in the video is seen yanking the student towards him by the back of his shirt. After attempting to push the child to the ground, the teacher is seen grabbing the child’s leg and forcing him to the floor. Then, the boy is lifted off the ground by his shirt before the video cuts.
Cleveland Independent School District said they are aware of the incident, and the staff member has been removed from the campus and is no longer working with CISD.
The district has not released a statement but said appropriate action will be taken once the investigation concludes.
Copyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.
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Michael Horton
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo./PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — TouchMath, a multisensory math program that makes learning crucial mathematical concepts accessible and clear for students who struggle to understand grade-level content, announces the launch of TouchMath Extend and Dyscalculia Extension. These groundbreaking solutions aim to bridge mathematical gaps and advance dyscalculia advocacy. Coinciding with two significant milestones, International Dyscalculia Day (March 3rd) and the 50th anniversary of the term ‘Developmental Dyscalculia,’ coined in March 1974, TouchMath reaffirms its commitment to providing essential resources and support to students experiencing mathematical barriers.
“Considering TouchMath’s unwavering commitment to educational equity over nearly five decades, the launch of TouchMath Extend and Dyscalculia Extension signifies a pivotal moment in our mission,” stated Dr. Sandra Elliott, Chief Academic Officer at TouchMath. “Recognizing that approximately 75% of students with dyscalculia also experience dyslexia, it’s clear that both conditions warrant equal recognition and support. Through these innovative solutions, we aim to not only raise awareness but also provide concrete assistance, empowering students to overcome mathematical challenges. As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ladislav Kosc’s pioneering work, it’s time to dispel misconceptions, deepen understanding, and champion inclusive education where every learner, regardless of their challenges, can thrive.”
Dyscalculia, estimated to affect 3-7% of the population, is a learning disability with profound impacts on academic performance and daily life. Challenges include struggles with basic math operations and understanding mathematical concepts. However, only about 15% of students have been screened for dyscalculia, while 40% of math teachers report students performing below grade level. Unlike dyslexia, dyscalculia lacks systematic tracking in the U.S. despite the urgent need for skilled STEM professionals. While more than 45 U.S. states have enacted dyslexia-related legislation, fewer than ten states have passed laws addressing math intervention and instruction since 2021.
“While dyslexia-related legislation has seen significant progress, there’s a notable gap in addressing math intervention and instruction,” notes Dr. Chelsi Brosh, Vice President, Product Innovation at TouchMath. “TouchMath Extend and Dyscalculia Extension fill this void, offering comprehensive solutions to support students struggling with math.”
In addition to dyscalculia advocacy, TouchMath acknowledges the diverse challenges faced by students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in mathematics education and other STEM subjects. Research supports the effectiveness of multisensory approaches in enhancing mathematical learning for students with disabilities, and TouchMath Extend aligns with these findings, offering tailored solutions to address the diverse learning needs of all students.
“Reflecting on our founding mission nearly 50 years ago, TouchMath remains dedicated to creating intentional learning experiences for students, especially those facing vulnerabilities,” said Sean Lockwood, Chief Executive Officer at TouchMath. “We will continue championing accessibility and inclusivity in mathematics education, paving the way for a brighter future for all learners.”
TouchMath’s commitment to dyscalculia advocacy goes beyond its latest product launches. In the last year, TouchMath released the free DySc screener and an extensive whitepaper to increase awareness and understanding of dyscalculia and promote efforts to ensure that all children have access to the support they need.
To learn more about TouchMath and its research-proven solutions, visit https://touchmath.com/.
For more on dyscalculia, visit https://touchmath.com/dyscalculia-101/.
About TouchMath
TouchMath provides a wide range of curriculum and tools for educators and their students who struggle to understand grade-level content. TouchMath is committed to maximizing student potential through its worldwide delivery of hands-on math programs, cultivating success with individuals of all abilities. Since 1975, TouchMath has delivered the only multi-sensory math program that uses the numeral as a manipulative, bringing students along the evidence-based Concrete-Representational-Abstract continuum for mathematics. Visit touchmath.com to learn more.
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ESchool News Staff
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OXNARD, Calif. — On a Wednesday morning this December, Dale Perizzolo’s math class at Adolfo Camarillo High School is anything but quiet. Students chat about the data analysis they’ve performed on their cellphone usage over a week, while Perizzolo walks around the room fielding their questions.
The students came up with the project themselves and designed a Google form to track their phone time, including which apps they used most. They also determined the research questions they’d ask of the data — such as whether social media use during class reduces comprehension and retention.
“It’s more real-world math,” said Nicolas Garcia, a senior in Perizzolo’s class. “We have the chance and freedom to choose what we’re doing our datasets on, and he teaches us how we’re going to work and complement it [in] our daily lives.”
Across town, students in Ruben Jacquez’s class at Rio Mesa High School use coding software to compile and clean data they’ve collected on student stress levels. A few miles away at Channel Islands High School, Miguel Hernandez’s students use pie and bar charts to analyze a dataset about how social media influences people’s shopping habits.
Perizzolo, Jacquez and Hernandez are among the eight math teachers of an increasingly popular data science course offered at most schools in the Oxnard Union High School district, an economically diverse school system northwest of Los Angeles, where 80 percent of students identify as Hispanic. The district rolled out the class in fall 2020, in an attempt to offer an alternative math course to students who might struggle in traditional junior and senior math courses such as Algebra II, Pre-Calculus and Calculus.
California has been at the center of a heated debate over what math knowledge students really need to succeed in college and careers. With math scores falling nationwide, some educators have argued that the standard algebra-intensive math pathway is outdated and needs a revamp, both to engage more students and to help them develop relevant skills in a world increasingly reliant on data. At least 17 states now offer data science (an interdisciplinary field that combines computer programming, math and statistics) as a high school math option, according to the group Data Science for Everyone. Two states — Oregon and Ohio — offer it as an alternative to Algebra II.
But other math educators have decried a move away from Algebra II, which they argue remains core to math instruction and necessary for students to succeed in STEM careers and beyond. In California, that disagreement erupted in October 2020, after the group that sets admission requirements for the state’s public university system (known as A-G) announced it would allow students to substitute data science for Algebra II to help more students qualify for college. Math professors, advocates and even some high school educators argued that the state was watering down standards and setting students up for failure in college.
Then, in July last year, the group reversed its earlier decision, and in February released new recommendations reiterating that data science courses (and, to the surprise of some experts, even long-approved statistics classes) cannot be used as an alternative to Algebra II. It remains unclear how the decision will reshape college admissions; additional guidance is expected in May.
In Oxnard, educators say they have been left in the dark about how these decisions affect course offerings for their students. They argue that, more than ever, students need real-world math to help them succeed in the subject, and that the expansion of data science — some 500 Oxnard district students have taken it to date — has reoriented teachers’ and students’ approach to math.
“Data science is changing their view of math,” said Jay Sorensen, Oxnard’s educational technology coordinator, who helped design the class. “It changed their perspective, or their view of what math is, because they maybe didn’t enjoy math or were frustrated with math or hated math before.”
Related: Inside the new middle school math crisis
Many kids in Oxnard stop taking any math after junior year of high school and the district has been trying to fix this for almost a decade. In 2015, Tom McCoy, then the assistant superintendent of education services, jokingly asked Sonny Sajor, the district’s math instructional specialist, “Can I get some math for poets?”
That started a conversation on what math classes might benefit and engage high schoolers who struggled in the subject and who didn’t plan to pursue science or math fields or attend a four-year college, said McCoy, who became Oxnard’s superintendent in 2020.
“Too many kids that dislike math would stop taking math the minute they could,” said Sajor, who co-designed the course at Oxnard. In the year before the district launched Data Science, only about 45 percent of students who took Math I in ninth grade made it to Math III by their junior year.
Inspired by a University of California, Los Angeles, seminar they attended on data science for high schoolers, Sajor and Sorensen designed the new course and partnered on it with the ed tech vendor Bootstrap World. Oxnard’s first data science classes generated enough student interest that the district expanded the course to more schools, and its popularity has continued to grow. Perizzolo’s class, for example, was meant to have 30 students but enrolls 39; he says he won’t turn away a student who signs up for a math class.
But not all educators in Oxnard were on board. Some math teachers, for example, questioned whether the Data Science course — which had been approved as an advanced statistics course equivalent to Advanced Placement statistics courses — was really equivalent to an advanced math course. They noted that the statistics content in the course was at a ninth-grade level, Sajor said.
Oxnard Union’s data science teachers, though, say they’ve seen benefits.
“It’s giving kids exposure to really practical math, and it’s also creative,” said Allison Ottie Halstead, who teaches Data Science along with Honors Pre-Calculus and A.P. Statistics at Rancho Campana High School.
Alicia Bettencourt, who teaches Data Science at Hueneme High School, said the course has helped her to “incorporate more real-world problems, more authentic assessments, when I’m teaching” other math classes including Algebra II.
Most of Oxnard’s Data Science classes enroll a mix of students who are using the course to fulfill their required third year of math and those who’ve already taken Algebra II. According to district data, students who took Data Science as juniors in the 2022-2023 year were more likely to sign up for a math class their senior year. (Only about 10 percent of those students enrolled in Math III, an integrated math class that’s equivalent to Algebra II; larger shares enrolled in Statistics, Math for Finance Literacy and other classes). Meanwhile, the share of students receiving a D or F in Math III has dropped slightly since the Data Science course was introduced in 2020, the district said.
Nizcialey Dimapilis, a senior in Hernandez’s class at Channel Islands High School, said she is taking Data Science and A.P. Calculus simultaneously to prepare for computer engineering courses in college. “I thought this class would be more useful because it involves coding, which is completely kind of new to me,” Dimapilis said. The course has helped her understand graphs and create and read data in her other classes as well, she said.
Some students said it helped them grasp math concepts they’d been introduced to in past classes and made them more interested in pursuing math in the future. Jaya Richardson, a senior taking Data Science at Oxnard High School, said she doesn’t consider herself “a math person.” As a junior, she took Math III and barely passed with a D.
Richardson considered repeating the class for a higher grade, but her counselor suggested Data Science instead. She said she’s happy with the decision, and even plans to pursue a degree in biology at a UC or CSU.
“This is way better,” she said of the Data Science course. “It’s still stressful, it’s still hard, but it’s more beneficial. We still do math in here, but it breaks it down in a way where I’m able to understand it without being overwhelmed.”
Related: Teachers conquering their math anxiety
But many STEM professors are worried about the consequences of experiments like Oxnard’s.
Jelani Nelson, professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, argues that most data science courses offered in high schools are low level and don’t comply with UC and CSU college admission criteria that alternatives to Algebra II build on students’ earlier math coursework.
Without an understanding of what he calls “foundational math” — Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II — he says students won’t succeed in college courses in computer science, math, technology, economics and even art (perspective drawing, for example, uses geometry and algebra). Introductory college classes in data science also build on those math concepts, he said, so students who’ve taken data science in high school but not Algebra II are unlikely to succeed in the subject.
Many four-year colleges don’t teach Algebra II, Nelson said, so there’s little opportunity to make up that work later. “If you want to get back on track,” he said, “how are you going to do it?”
Adrian Mims, founder of the Calculus Project, a nonprofit that works to increase the number of Black, Hispanic, Indigenous and low-income students in advanced mathematics, said swapping out data science for Algebra II has unintended consequences.
Standardized tests including the SAT and college math placement exams cover Algebra II, he said. He said he worries that students who opt for data science instead will be stuck in remedial math courses “not because they can’t learn the math, but because they made decisions in high school that deprive them of the opportunity to learn the content for them to do well.”
Rather than replacing Algebra II, data science concepts could be infused into Algebra II courses, and data science courses that include some Algebra II and geometry could be offered as electives to students who’ve already completed Algebra II, Nelson and others argue.
Others, though, don’t share those concerns. Pamela Burdman, founder of Just Equations, a nonprofit rethinking the role of traditional math pathways in high school, points to data showing that many students who take Algebra II in high school struggle through the subject and learn little. She said emerging research suggests that courses like data science could have “more potential for bringing students into STEM” than the traditional preparatory math courses.
Despite the recent focus on the UC admissions requirements, only about 400 applicants out of roughly 206,000 in the last admissions cycle listed that they’d taken data science or statistics in lieu of Algebra II, she noted.
“I do worry that the debate over data science versus Algebra II is sort of a distraction,” she said.
Zarek Drozda, director of Data Science for Everyone, the national initiative based at the University of Chicago, agreed. “In the 21st century, if we can’t find opportunities to teach students about data, data science and AI basics, that is a huge problem,” he said.
Related: How can schools dig out from a generation’s worth of lost math progress?
Teachers and school guidance counselors in Oxnard are wary of wading into the math debate with their higher ed peers. But they aren’t afraid to voice their discontent with what they view as a disconnect between students’ needs and higher education.
“They’ve always moved the goal posts and I don’t know if they ever think about the students,” Hugo Tapia, a guidance counselor at Adolfo Camarillo High School, said about the state’s A-G university system.
Daniel Cook, a learning, instruction and technology coach at Camarillo, said that students come into high school behind in math and that the pandemic only made the problem worse. Yet colleges still expect students to have mastered Algebra II concepts and shut the door on those who haven’t.
“If one A-G math is the only reason why a kid doesn’t get into college, we’re robbing those kids,” he said.
Cook said that at Camarillo High School, some 44 percent of sophomores are not on track to be A-G eligible because of math, so they’re getting a message early on that they’re not college material. By senior year, the figure is about 25 percent.
Traditional math curriculum “is essentially focused on preparing students for STEM pathways in college,” Cook said. The July vote and subsequent policy recommendations to nix data science as an option for college applicants, he said, are a “slap in the face to students who have interests that are not STEM related.”
Related: How one district has diversified its advanced math classes — without the controversy
Educators in Oxnard are trying to cope with the uncertainty created by the state’s higher education system. With data science no longer counting toward college admission, Oxnard will eventually limit the course to students who’ve already taken, or are taking, Algebra II, according to Sajor. The district is also considering a pilot course that would integrate Algebra II and Data Science.
Such a course might ultimately be better for the district, Sajor said, because it would help more students engage with Algebra II concepts while also introducing them to coding and data science. “It’s maybe a step back, but it also might be two steps forward,” he said.
Still, current data science students, like Emma-Dai Valenzuela, say the class in its current form has been invaluable. A senior in teacher Stefanie Davison’s class at Pacifica High School, Valenzuela said it has allowed her to fulfill her graduation requirements while actually succeeding in a math class.
She transferred into the class after struggling in Math III, the integrated Algebra II course, she said. Valenzuela plans to join the Navy before attending college, and said her recruiters told her this course would offer a basic understanding of coding and math she can build on later.
“This is more hands-on,” she said. “We’re constantly doing new things.”
This story about data science was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.
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Javeria Salman
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It can be easy to think of school closures, remote learning and masked classrooms as part of the pandemic past.
But educators across the country know better. They see the learning loss that persists, despite their best efforts to provide some measure of consistency amid all the disruption.
While new data suggest students are making a “ ‘surprising’ rebound,” findings also show math and reading levels for elementary and middle school students are nowhere near pre-pandemic levels.
Worse yet, systemic inequality has actually worsened, with students in the poorest communities falling even further behind their more affluent peers.
Recognizing near the start of the pandemic that U.S. public schools required vast support, federal and state government officials appropriated historic levels of help via elementary and secondary school emergency relief funds.
They must continue this funding.
Educators are just beginning to deeply experience and understand the pandemic’s ongoing seismic effects on children and staff. Learning loss remains one of the most challenging hurdles educators must overcome to ensure that an entire generation of students does not fall off track.
Related: PROOF POINTS: Three views of pandemic learning loss and recovery
As a recently retired superintendent of schools, I’ve watched, with immense frustration, as state and federal officials followed up their initial funding with blindly conceived appropriations tied to inflexible and short-sighted deadlines.
Now that funding is drying up at precisely the wrong time; districts will be left trying to fund nascent positions and programs on top of their normal operational costs.
In the aftermath of the pandemic, educators have been switching focus from acute short-term challenges to the chronic and stubborn ones poised to become generational pain points. Novel educational impacts of the pandemic are still emerging while others persist.
Classroom teachers and school administrators are seeing more challenging student behaviors and family distress on top of the learning gaps.
That’s why federal funding must not end. We would never ask doctors to treat their patients before they began exhibiting symptoms. So why would we ask our educators to essentially do the same?
As deadlines for the expenditure of federal dollars loom and intersect with next year’s budget development, school districts once again face the uncertainty of not having sufficient resources for challenges that they do not yet fully understand.
Short-term funding will not be sufficient for navigating out of a once-in-a-century global public health problem that fundamentally changed the way the U.S. educates our youth.
We need a more logical, reasonable and, most importantly, sustainable approach to combat pandemic-induced learning loss, in whatever form it appears. Although federal and state funding is typically allocated yearly, future funding should be targeted and guaranteed for multiple years.
Without taking a different funding approach, we will only guarantee that the impacts linger or worsen. Right now, well-intentioned federal funding may actually be widening the achievement gap. We are seeing economically disadvantaged communities starting to lag in their rate of learning as measured by standardized testing.
Leaders holding the power of the purse will need to recognize that the new playing field is still unequal, and that economic disparities among communities will continue to yield different learning outcomes. Leveling the playing field means better distribution of funds.
The federal funding that is set to expire in 2024 cannot wipe away the adverse learning impacts of the pandemic. While it can be tempting and politically expedient to declare the pandemic over, turning the page prematurely leaves students and teachers behind and potentially exacerbates existing challenges.
We can and must do better.
Hamlet Michael Hernandez is an assistant teaching professor of education and director of the Educational Leadership program at Quinnipiac University.
This story about pandemic learning loss was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s newsletter.
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Hamlet Michael Hernandez
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“Mom, are there any more Earths?”
Angelique Hammack, a teacher in California, creates lesson plans about climate change for the website SubjectToClimate. She often starts from a question posed by one of her four children.
Her 7-year-old, who has autism, has been really interested in space lately. “He was asking me questions about the solar system and about black holes, and I started pulling out all these books I had on outer space,” she said. “He’s got a telescope for his birthday, he’s been looking at the moon.”
When he asked the question about whether there were more Earths, Hammack saw the opening to create a climate-related lesson that explains how Earth is a “Goldilocks planet,” with just-right conditions for life to thrive.
New York state is currently considering several climate education bills. If the proposed policies become law, the state will join California and New Jersey in mandating that climate topics be introduced across grade levels and subjects, not just confined to science class. A wide range of science and environmental groups such as the National Wildlife Federation and Earthday.org back this interdisciplinary approach to climate education.
But as the movement for teaching climate grows, thanks to new standards and increasing student curiosity, teachers are on the hunt for materials and lessons they can rely on. “I think there’s a big disconnect,” said Lauren Madden, professor of elementary science education at The College of New Jersey. “Teachers really need materials that they can use tomorrow.”
For the last few years, Madden has been researching the experiences of teachers who are tackling this topic. She shared some of her results with The Hechinger Report. SubjectToClimate, a large free repository of climate change lessons, also shared some data on its most popular lessons and materials.
Madden said that what teachers need most are clear strategies that allow them to plug climate lessons into existing curricula, so that climate can be interwoven with existing requirements, rather than wedged into an already-packed schedule. “Teachers want and need straightforward starting points in terms of instructional materials,” she said.
Yen-Yen Chiu, director of content creation for SubjectToClimate, agreed. In response to demand, she said, the organization is beginning to create teacher pacing guides, like a middle school math pacing guide that maps specific climate resources from their database to math standards.
Here’s an overview of more key findings from Madden, and from Hammack and Chiu at SubjectToClimate.
“I have to say that the message that comes across loud and clear to me has been — telling the truth is really important, and focusing on areas for solutions and optimism,” said Madden. “There are really great things happening at the edges of what humans are capable of right now.”
This column about climate change lessons was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.
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Anya Kamenetz
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One of the biggest announcements out of FETC24 this year involved Lightspeed, the leading provider of instructional audio solutions that create equal access to learning, and their launch of Cascadia—a networked instructional audio platform that not only projects the teacher’s voice within the classroom but also empowers teachers to call for help and communicate outside of the classroom directly from their lanyard microphone.
I had a conversation with Tony Zeikle, Senior Vice President of Revenue at Lightspeed Technologies, Inc. about the features of the new product, its integration with existing school systems like phone networks and paging solutions, and its potential benefits for teachers and students, especially in light of challenges posed by the pandemic. We also touch upon the evolving landscape of educational technology, including the role of audio in augmented reality, virtual reality, and language learning. Have a listen:
More details about the launch:
Cascadia delivers all the benefits of instructional audio and integrates with existing life-safety and building communication systems, providing the ability to initiate mobile, silent emergency alerts and make two-way calls to the office from anywhere in the building.
“The need for teachers to communicate with resources outside of the classroom continues to grow, whether in an emergency or simply when help is needed,” said Shaun Fagan, Senior Vice President of Product and Lightspeed. “With Cascadia, schools can now meet this need by providing teachers with a communication tool that offers mobility, simplicity, and immediacy.”
Cascadia connects to a school’s network, providing centralized monitoring and control, along with key integrations to critical building-wide communications. The Cascadia platform provides:
“By integrating with leading life-safety and building communication providers, our solutions provide schools with the flexibility to leverage their existing investments and build the best systems to meet their needs,” said Fagan.
This networked communication system can enhance existing safety protocols and procedures, which is vital for students and parents. Students (87%), parents (96%), and educators (98%) all agree that school safety is extremely important to them, according to the 2022 State of School Safety Report by Safe and Sound Schools.
Below is a machine-generated transcript:
00:00:05 Speaker 1
OK, Tony. Thanks so much for joining me today. I really appreciate it. Looking forward to off, etc in a couple weeks and I know lightspeed’s going to be down there. Maybe we could just get right into it, talk a little bit about the news and any announcements that that you guys might be promoting on the show floor.
00:00:22 Speaker 2
Absolutely. You know, we go to FTC every year. We love the opportunity to be able to interact with a lot of school districts and just across the entire industry of the Ed tech space. And you know, we are well respected and known for what we do in the classroom with instructional audio, putting a microphone on a teacher and providing a low volume, highly intelligible speech through speakers.
00:00:42 Speaker 2
So that every student in the classroom can effectively hear the instruction.
00:00:46 Speaker 2
The new product that we’re launching this month and it’s just gone on to our website this week is called Cascade, Cascadia and it’s an instructional networked platform. It’s our first foray into being a networked system, so that our our technology directors can have visibility into all of their instructional audio solutions.
00:01:05 Speaker 2
Across an entire school.
00:01:07 Speaker 2
And also adding some additional features. You know, the thing that we really realized was as we put microphones on, teachers and teachers are wearing a microphone, you know, both in their classroom and around the school is that that microphone can have some additional features and abilities beyond just that. We have an important piece of real estate.
00:01:27 Speaker 2
So to speak, by having that microphone right here at a, you know, hands distance away.
00:01:33 Speaker 2
For the teachers, So what we’re doing is adding some components of being able to integrate our microphone for safety and security purposes and that can be incorporating it in as a discrete silent alert that can notify the office that there’s something wrong in a classroom or somewhere else in the school. And we’re also integrating it with the school’s phone system so that the.
00:01:55 Speaker 2
Teacher is actually able to make a teacher initiated call to the office.
00:02:00 Speaker 2
Sometimes a little bit more information is required. You know with that discrete alert or something like that, and the teacher being able to have a quick conversation with the office and it could be something as minor as a student needs help in the hallway. It could be just instruction, maybe a teacher or a student’s heading to the office just so that quick information can provide a little bit more.
00:02:20 Speaker 2
Information for the teacher and staff to be able to communicate the thing we really realized coming out of the pandemic.
00:02:27 Speaker 2
Was that gone? Are the days that a teacher just walks into their classroom at the beginning of the day doesn’t interact with any other adults the rest of the day? And you know, they’re just with their students in that classroom. The dynamic has changed and teachers need support, whether it’s for behavioral purposes, whether it’s just standard communication across the school campus.
00:02:48 Speaker 2
And we realized that we could add some value there by adding some additional buttons and additional features onto our microphone.
00:02:56 Speaker 1
You know, it sounds like a pretty significant upgrade. And when you talk about significant, you’re also talking about sophisticated and and and complicated especially I guess when you’re tying in phone systems or IP based, if any of our readers or listeners here are responsible for those sort of IT systems. Can you give us some of the the?
00:03:16 Speaker 1
Weak speak when it comes to how those are being integrated.
00:03:19 Speaker 2
Yeah, absolutely. What we really desire to do is stay in our space from an instructional audio standpoint. That’s what we’re known for. That’s what we’re respected for. So we’re really staying there. But what we have done is identified that we can integrate with existing paging and intercom solutions through our network system. So that from a wireless standpoint, we use deck technology for our wireless.
00:03:41 Speaker 2
Transmission, but from the amp we’re now connected through the through the network and integrate with that paging system so that we’re integrating with what the school is already used to using.
00:03:52 Speaker 2
And being able to navigate and then those buttons can do different things based upon what the school desires it to do based upon their safety and security protocols and those kinds of things. One of the things that we really wanted to make sure that we did through this process is there can be complexity on the back end for sure, but how do we keep it simple for the teacher? How do we make it so that it’s very easy and intuitive?
00:04:14 Speaker 2
For them to use, you know, one of the things that we realized was when it comes to school wide communication, there’s different ways that teachers were interacting, whether it be, you know, maybe a walkie.
00:04:24 Speaker 2
Bucky and those are kind of bulky and they might be taking them to recess or different places across the school. They’re not very wearable, so to speak, but they serve their purpose. You think about other things that they’re using sometimes they’re using their own cell phone, which sometimes isn’t on the school’s network, isn’t a school.
00:04:45 Speaker 2
Piece of property.
00:04:47 Speaker 2
And there’s some challenges tied to apps and things like that. On their own personal device that can be challenging for a school to navigate, and then, you know, they have their phone system maybe or their, you know, in the school and it’s fixed. And it’s not a wearable technology, so to speak. So we felt like there was a little bit of a gap in terms of just communication that we can make a little bit simpler.
00:05:07 Speaker 1
Yeah. And you mentioned the pandemic in in some of the the changing behaviors.
00:05:12 Speaker 1
Is that something that that as as a company as as a technology company who’s emphasizing these technologies as being an enhancement, has there, has there been a change in terms of maybe convincing faculty members who maybe were resistant? Like why do I need a microphone? I’ve always, I’ve always taught my algebra class for for 30 years and never seem to have necessary like.
00:05:34 Speaker 1
And always felt awkward about. So maybe now that they’re more comfortable and see those benefits.
00:05:39 Speaker 2
Yeah, really kind of two purposes that the pandemic really highlighted the need for this technology. One was when teachers were wearing masks in their classroom, you know, that mask was at 10 decibel drop in their voice. And also you had the loss of the visual cues of the mouth through that mask. And so I think that necessity of audio and the challenge of communication through the pandemic.
00:06:02 Speaker 2
Just heightened teachers awareness of why this technology is important. One of the first responses we’ve gotten for years when teachers put a microphone on and they hear that low volume, highly intelligible speech coming through, is that they didn’t have to repeat their instructions nearly.
00:06:17 Speaker 2
This much students were more attentive and at the end of the day the teacher had more energy. They realized I don’t have to raise my voice all day, every day for my students to be able to hear me, you know another, you know, we talked a little bit about maybe the rise in behavioral issues in a school. You know, I I went to a lot of Superintendent conferences towards the tail end.
00:06:37 Speaker 2
Of the pandemic and.
00:06:38 Speaker 2
After the pandemic and a lot of superintendents would just say we are just seeing an A significant increase in behavioral issues tied to all of the challenges that the pandemic had for students, their home life and all the things that they were going through. And, you know, there was an increase in room clears just.
00:06:55 Speaker 2
You know things that are every day in a school that you know a lot of people maybe don’t hear about, but they’re the challenges that teachers are facing every day and they’re very aware of it. So increased communication across the school campus was one thing that we just wanted to really focus on. And, you know, one of the things that I’m sure that you’ve thought about too, and you’re hearing from other companies.
00:07:16 Speaker 2
As well.
00:07:16 Speaker 2
Well, is how technology needs to evolve. You know, we talked about AI and ChatGPT and how that’s being incorporated into the classroom. And there’s a lot of different things. And I think coming out of the pandemic and in the next few years, we’re gonna continue to see a lot of really innovative technologies that are going to change the way that the classroom is shaped and the way teaching and learning.
00:07:38 Speaker 1
Yeah, because especially we’re talking about the future of education technology conference, right. And I’m I’m looking forward to getting down there and now that we’re.
00:07:45 Speaker 1
Kind of finally free to a certain degree from the pandemic and kind of start to look forward on some of these technologies, the augmented reality, the virtual reality audio is a big part of all of those things, right? So I mean you can, are you anticipating other new kind of applications where?
00:08:06 Speaker 1
Audio will be part of that.
00:08:09 Speaker 2
Yeah, absolutely. You know, the other component is just making sure you have clear audio for extended learning. You know, students that are outside of the classroom. How do you make sure that audio is clear on both ends? You know, if you have a group of students that are in another classroom across the school campus or, you know, in a different part, or if you have a teacher that’s remote.
00:08:29 Speaker 2
How do you make sure audio is clear through that whole process and we continue to think through that and we have a lot of various innovative solutions that we provide to be able to make sure that that can happen. One of the things that.
00:08:42 Speaker 2
Provided during the pandemic was our T3 solution, which is basically being able to provide a student with every a microphone. Every student in the classroom, and that became really applicable for remote learning where you might have a teacher that’s remote because if a student has a question that teacher needs to be able to hear it and.
00:09:01 Speaker 2
Being able to interact that way and really making the classroom setting different than what it has been in the past, and I think we’ll continue to see that evolve and change. But audio is at the heart of a lot of.
00:09:12 Speaker 1
Things one especially too. I I’ve noticed that when you look at various AI applications, various transcription applications, I mean specifically just Microsoft Word, the character recognition.
00:09:28 Speaker 1
It’s kind of across the Rubicon, right? I mean, it used to be like it was pretty good, but you’d have to spend a lot of time kind of cleaning.
00:09:36 Speaker 1
I notice now that just I mean the the character recognition when it comes to audio transcriptions, it’s just really spectacular. But the key comes down to.
00:09:47 Speaker 1
The microphone and what that technology can capture, right? I mean, so that’s kind of like the the front lines of any of this stuff working at all.
00:09:56 Speaker 2
Yeah. And you think also even about, you know, English language learning and the way that’s evolving in in K12 right now, I think over 10% of our student population.
00:10:05 Speaker 2
And now is falling into that category. So how can we do translation services through that process as well? So there’s a lot of exciting things that are happening through all of that.
00:10:17 Speaker 1
And the one piece of the the audience here that I don’t think needs much convincing are the students themselves.
00:10:26 Speaker 1
Right. I mean this is just.
00:10:27 Speaker 1
This is the technology is not a novelty to them. I mean, of course we’re all going to be speaking into microphones.
00:10:34 Speaker 2
Absolutely. And you know, I think students, especially now with, you know, headphones and everything else, they’re used to a more immersive experience when it comes to audio. So how can we deliver that to them, whether they’re in the classroom, whether they’re at home or whatever medium that they’re doing in the learning environment? We need to be thoughtful of that and engage them where they are.
00:10:53 Speaker 1
Well, lots of exciting stuff. Uh, I look forward to seeing you in person, not just on the on the zoom platform where we can kind of go more in depth. But thanks for your time to kind of.
00:11:04 Speaker 1
Let our listeners and let our readers kind of know what’s on the on the forefront here when it comes to audio.
00:11:09 Speaker 2
Absolutely. And what you know will be on the showroom floor, but we’ll also have a demonstration room where we can show Cascadia and demonstrate it on a first hand level in an enclosed space. So we look forward to being able to meet with many people at FTC.
00:11:23 Speaker 1
Excellent, Tony. Thanks again. Appreciate it.
00:11:25 Speaker 2
Thank you.
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Kevin Hogan
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At the beginning of the school year, each of my 11th grade teachers stated that they would not tolerate students using AI platforms, such as ChatGPT, to complete assignments. They explained that any use of AI would be considered plagiarism and could result in a failing grade.
Despite these warnings, I regularly hear my classmates laugh about how they used ChatGPT for the prior night’s homework. Their gloats are often accompanied by comments along the lines of “Work smarter, not harder” and “Teachers literally make it so easy to use AI.”
My classmates at the public high school I attend in New York City are not unusual: In a recent survey, 89 percent of students who responded said they had used ChatGPT for homework.
It’s easy for teachers to admonish students not to use ChatGPT and then blame them when they do. But educators must realize that the work they are assigning, which largely relies on rote memorization, is a perfect fit for artificial intelligence.
Rather than browbeat students for using AI, maybe educators should outsmart AI by reimagining education so that it requires more creativity and critical thought, the aspects that separate people from robots.
Related: ‘We’re going to have to be a little more nimble’: How school districts are responding to AI
Since third grade, I have been taking standardized tests. Now that I’m older, these include Regents exams, New York State tests and Advanced Placement assessments. My teachers say that our scores on these tests are a reflection of our academic proficiency, as well as a predictor of our future academic and professional success.
Yet, in my experience, all standardized tests do is reduce nearly every class, even the most interesting, to regurgitation.
Take AP Psychology. I signed up for this class because I am fascinated by the subject, especially the philosophical and open-ended aspects that require thoughtful discussion and analysis. But rather than encouraging us to engage with psychology’s intellectual premises, the class requires us to memorize roughly 400 terms.
If I can remember each term and its definition, I will have set myself up for success in the class and on the final AP exam.
Sounds fascinating and enlightening, right? Not to me. Unfortunately, this is the current state of education. Exams and teaching to the test have become so ingrained in education that little to no room is left for creative learning, rich discussion, critical thought or the development of emotional intelligence.
These are the very skills and activities that separate people from robots, yet instead of developing them, students are told to act like robots and simply spit back information on exams.
Ironically, AI is, of course, much better at being a robot than a typical student is; systems like ChatGPT can access and spit back large swaths of information better than any person.
Thus, it is no surprise that GPT-4 clocks high scores on the bar exam, SAT and multiple AP exams, including a 5 (the highest possible score) on AP Psychology.
These results show that the modern student is susceptible to AI takeover. If educators wish to effectively prevent AI from entering classrooms, they must reimagine the way students are taught.
Rethinking education in America should include a move away from teaching to the test and a push toward project-based learning, which encourages students to collaborate, examine and analyze real-world issues and apply scientific research to solve problems.
Related: OPINION: Banning tech that will become a critical part of life is the wrong answer for education
This approach might even drive test scores higher. A 2021 study estimated that students whose curricula included KIA, a project-based learning approach, would be 8 percent more likely to earn a passing score on AP exams.
While project-based learning may help lift standardized test scores, its real power lies in improving problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. These skills are vital for current students who are preparing for a world with AI.
According to one report, AI could eventually replace 300 million full-time jobs worldwide. The jobs that AI is currently unlikely to be able to replace are the ones that require problem-solving and critical thinking, as well as those that require complex communication, decision-making, creativity and emotional intelligence.
Education is a means to getting a job and being successful. Simply put, for my generation and future generations to succeed, we are going to need much more than rote memorization skills. The good news is that the skills we need are the ones that make learning fun, challenging and exciting.
We are at a crossroads. Educators, policymakers and everyone with an interest in the future of work has a decision to make: They can either continue supporting an education system that teaches students to think in ways that AI can clearly do better, or they can decide to reform education to prepare students for the not-to-distant world of the future.
Benjamin Weiss is a junior at Midwood High School in Brooklyn, N.Y.
This story about ChatGPT and high school was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s newsletter.
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Benjamin Weiss
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Key points:
It seems as if we hear about AI in education every day, if not every hour. AI’s rise in popularity has brought with it questions about ethics, skills students will need for workplace success, and how to balance negatives with positives when it comes to teaching with this new generative tool.
Here are five insights around AI in education:
When it comes to AI tools for education, there are a number to choose from. ChatGPT is likely the first to come to mind, but AI is woven into so many tools and helps automate tedious tasks, connects student progress with personalized recommendations, and improved PD feedback. Tools include Canva Magic Write for creative writing, Eduaide.ai for instructional materials, and Google Bard and Microsoft’s Bing Chat.
AI is here to stay, and will be an important workforce skill–and many educators want to teach students to work with it, not against it. This makes the future of AI in education intriguing, to say the least. Just as the internet revolutionized learning, AI will be the next game-changer. While the fears of using AI to cheat aren’t unfounded, how many educators have actually tried writing an essay using just AI? Using AI still requires work, and in fact, it often leads to a deeper understanding of the subject matter because you are the one who has to teach AI what to do and say. Just like the internet, AI isn’t going anywhere–so let’s teach our kids to work with AI, not against it. Here are 5 positive ways students can use AI.
When it comes to the disadvantages of AI in education, educators are increasingly concerned about the influence AI writing tools could have on education and students. The discussion around the influence of AI writing on instruction has never been so active – all thanks to the launch of ChatGPT last year. The tool is so advanced compared to other writing tools of its kind that a lot of people instantly started using it for all kinds of ethically ambiguous purposes. Educators are concerned about the influence AI will have and how its negative effects could be detrimental to learning. Here’s how to counteract the disruptive influence of AI writing on learning.
There’s a lurking concern that AI is just going to help students find mindless shortcuts for cheating their way to good grades. But that’s only a risk if schools and teachers hold a low bar for what they expect of their students. If schools and teachers want to elevate expectations for their students, the role of AI in education can be powerful for rapid feedback and iterative prototyping. Here’s how AI can make for a sink-or-swim moment in classrooms.
Last spring, a high school English teacher challenged her students: “Artificial intelligence can do any of your class assignments,” she told them flatly. “Now prove me wrong.” She wanted to provoke them, to get them to ask questions, and to start using these tools—not to cheat—but to flip their learning on its head. She knew her she and her students needed to learn together. And since that day, they didn’t just shift the paradigms—they sent them into somersaults. Here’s what AI for teachers can look like in the classroom.
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Laura Ascione
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Key points:
The majority of teachers are enthusiastic and eager about the potential of AI in education and incorporating AI in the classroom, but remain unsure of where to start, according to a new study from Canva.
Teachers recognize the transformative potential of AI tools for education, but still need support and professional development to effectively incorporate it into their teaching practices.
“These findings underscore teachers’ genuine excitement about the promise of artificial intelligence and the huge potential this technology has in the classroom. Teachers are looking to supercharge their lessons, foster creativity, and cut down on manual administrative tasks. It’s no surprise artificial intelligence is top of mind for educators across the globe,” said Jason Wilmot, Canva’s Head of Education Products.
Canva’s study found 78 percent of teachers are interested in using AI education tools, but their experience with the technology remains limited, with 93 percent indicating they know “a little” or “nothing” about it – though this lack of experience hasn’t stopped teachers quickly discovering and considering its benefits:
Teachers are particularly optimistic about the positive impact of artificial intelligence on students with different learning needs with 72 percent percent of respondents agreeing the technology could help with language learning, and 67 percent agreeing it could support universal accessibility.
“This technology has the potential to have a profound impact on the way teachers are able to personalize content to meet the needs of individual students, no matter where they are in their learning journey,” Wilmot added.
The study affirmed the increasingly important role of technology in the classroom and the future of AI in education, with 92 percent of teachers using apps or services in their teaching, and 78 percent using those apps at least weekly. When looking at the ways teachers are already using generative artificial intelligence, the most common uses were:
“AI is something I’m learning alongside of my students. I know my students need to learn it and we need to tie the tools to pedagogy for it to be useful in the classroom,” said George Lee, a high school teacher in San Francisco, California. “It serves as the spark to ignite my students’ curiosity and creativity to further ideate. This is especially true for students who lack resources and experiences. I see AI as a tool that levels the playing field for all my students.”
As this technology continues to develop, educators remain optimistic about its various applications in the classroom and finding the best AI tools for teachers. Canva’s study found teachers are most interested in using artificial intelligence for:
“AI is transforming education, and teachers clearly see its value,” said Carly Daff, Canva’s Head of Teams and Education. “We are thrilled to meet this need by bringing AI features to Canva and training teachers to use it, all while modeling safe, responsible, and thoughtful AI implementation.”
In response to this demand, Canva announced its biggest-ever education launch, which includes Classroom Magic, a suite of free AI-powered tools designed with teachers and students in mind. With more than 60 million teachers and students using Canva around the world, this was a sea-change event for AI in education. Unlike other AI tools for schools, Canva’s support educators with their day-to-day duties—everything from administrative tasks to writing lesson plans, designing presentations, and creating high-quality animations with the help of AI.
This poll was conducted by Morning Consult from Aug. 6-11, 2023, among a sample of 1,004 educators in the U.S. The interviews were conducted online, and the data were weighted to approximate a target sample of educators based on age, race/ethnicity, gender, educational attainment, and region. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
This press release originally appeared online.
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Laura Ascione
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Millions of families may now face a lack of child care following the recent expiration of pandemic-era federal funding.
The child care “stabilization” funds included in the American Rescue Plan Act were just that — emergency funding to stabilize the sector amid a pandemic.
As vital as that funding was, it was insufficient to address the many systemic problems impacting early childhood education and its workforce, including inequitable wages.
Wages for early childhood workers already lag far behind those of their K-8 colleagues who have similar credentials. These workers, disproportionately Black, Latina and indigenous, face poverty rates an average of 7.7 times higher than other teachers.
This financial condition perpetuates economic inequality and reflects systemic racism, with early childhood education programs continuing to be subsidized through the long hours that Black, Latina and indigenous women work for unjust wages and limited benefits.
Related: Early education coalition searches for answers to raise teacher pay, even as budgets are cratering
This inequity and the end of the crucial pandemic-era federal lifeline for early childhood educators will negatively impact families and workers, The Century Foundation estimates. Some 70,000 child care programs are likely to close; millions of families will struggle to get access to child care; 232,000 jobs could soon be lost; and states will lose $10.6 billion in tax and business revenue every year.
There is one bright note: State and local governments are offering models of innovation and glimmers of hope in the face of such a dire challenge.
In late 2022, New Mexico became the first state in the nation to create a permanent child care fund, making child care free or affordable for many families and increasing early educator wages.
State and local governments are offering models of innovation and glimmers of hope.
Washington, D.C., recently established the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund, which aims to achieve pay parity between early childhood educators and their K-12 counterparts. Since 2022, almost $70 million has been distributed to nearly 3,000 early childhood educators. The district is also expanding health insurance for early childhood educators.
In Louisiana, a coalition of state and local government partners is working with a nonprofit to test the impact of projects that increase child care workers’ wages in key communities; if positive, they intend to scale the programs across the state.
Minnesota last year signed into law the Great Start Compensation Support Payment Program to fill the gap following the ending of the federal child care stabilization grants. The program will provide $316 million this fiscal year, and $260 million every two years ongoing, to directly increase child care workers’ pay.
These solutions are critical, because it is our nation’s youngest students who will ultimately suffer the consequences of high teacher turnover and an unstable learning environment at a key time in their development.
Early childhood education directly impacts their future learning outcomes and lifelong success; it deserves our attention and investment.
Building on these efforts, the Early Educator Investment Collaborative — a group of funders that has come together to accelerate progress in the early childhood education profession — recently announced grants for state and local partnerships in Colorado, Louisiana and Washington, D.C.
These grants will bolster innovative approaches to increasing early childhood education workforce pay, including the creation of dedicated revenue streams and pilot demonstration projects to evaluate the impacts of salary increases.
They will also promote greater collaboration between agencies to improve workforce compensation — aimed at increasing the capacity of financial and data systems to support long-term wage and benefits increases.
I’m excited for the solutions these grants will amplify and hope they can provide useful models and encouragement for other states to explore ways to better compensate early childhood educators.
But we also need state and federal legislators to step up for their constituents on this issue. It’s critical for legislators to reflect the majority of voters’ interest in early childhood education reform by increasing investment, enacting legislation to boost compensation and advocating for broader support of early childhood educators.
Philanthropy also has a big role to play. By supporting governments with the funding needed to explore unique solutions, philanthropic organizations can help find what works, scale successful models and support sustainable change.
Along with boosting the rallying cry for increased federal investment in early childhood education and its workers, this moment is an opportunity for states, communities and philanthropists to find truly long-term solutions to fully support early childhood education workers and the families they serve.
Ola J. Friday is the director of the Early Educator Investment Collaborative.
This story about early childhood educator pay was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s newsletter.
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Ola J. Friday
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When I made the challenging, life-altering decision in April 2023 of where to pursue my Ph.D., the University of Texas at Austin seemed like the best fit.
As an underrepresented student, I felt assured by the school’s diverse faculty and student population, along with their embrace of a robust diversity, equity and inclusion mission, and looked forward to continuing my research on improving the quality of mental health care for all families.
Then came Texas Senate Bill 17, which became law on January 1, making it illegal to have DEI offices and programming in public universities. This bill also outlaws mandatory diversity training and does not allow departments to ask prospective faculty about their commitment to building diverse campuses.Texas is not the only state to pass such a bill.
Legislation that bans many DEI initiatives in our universities is already having a significant chilling effect on students like me, creating concerns over the potential impact on the quality of our education and raising questions regarding whether Texas even wants us.
Had the Texas bill passed before my decision to attend UT Austin, I would most likely not have chosen to come here. For me, as a new resident of Texas and a first-year Ph.D. student planning to learn, teach and research for the next four to five years, this bill, now law, creates a hostile environment.
Given that top-ranked programs fight for the most qualified applicants, states that adopt these policies have to realize that they will discourage top diverse talent from attending their schools.
Related: Beyond the Rankings: The College Welcome Guide
Some educational leaders and policymakers argue that institutions will remain true to their values of welcoming diverse ideas and people — despite the bills and their policies.
I disagree. As a first-generation Mexican immigrant in this country, I believe that establishing structural and transparent mechanisms that offer support and keep schools accountable are the keys to creating and preserving spaces of genuine belonging for students and faculty from diverse backgrounds.
I align most with the view expressed in UT Austin’s Change Starts Here strategic plan: Tangible benefits for students and the greater community cannot be accomplished without “creating processes and policies that cultivate a diverse, equitable, and inclusive campus.”
My abuelita taught me that “mas hace una hormiga andando que un buey echado” (“an ant on the move does more than a dozing ox”).
During my post-master’s work at the Yale Child Study Center at the Yale School of Medicine, I vividly remember navigating a difficult situation with the support of the chief diversity officer.
While no institution has it all figured out, that experience allowed me to appreciate the tangible benefits of having DEI structures in place.
Lawmakers, university presidents, deans and all those who decide on and carry out educational policies should understand that students like me are no longer settling for simply being allowed into higher education institutions. We now demand what we all deserve: structures and mechanisms that support our educational growth.
While many academics may genuinely hold values that align with diversity, equity and inclusion, fear of the retaliation empowered by legislation like Senate Bill 17 (e.g., losing their campus positions, department appointments, etc.), and a sense of powerlessness, may override those values.
But my Abuelita taught me that “mas hace una hormiga andando que un buey echado” (“an ant on the move does more than a dozing ox”).
This expression, or “dicho,”reminds me that while I may be no more than a tiny ant compared to massive systems, I can still act. Additionally, coming from a multigenerational migrant farmworker family taught me the importance of planting seeds.
That is why I am confident that if enough of us collectively call for additions to DEI efforts (e.g., expanding DEI offices and resources), we can help reverse the backlash against DEI.
During this liminal period, as we decide if we will move forward or backward as it pertains to DEI, we must remember the new message introduced by the University of Texas at Austin: “What starts here changes the world.”
We need decision-makers to plant seeds that bear fruit to nurture all community members and have roots strong enough to break the concrete foundations of inequitable systems.
Hector Chaidez Ruacho is a doctoral student at The University of Texas at Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work and a recipient of the Graduate School Recruitment Fellowship and Graduate School Mentoring Fellowship.
This story about DEI and universities was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s newsletter.
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Hector E. Chaidez Ruacho
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This story was produced by The Associated Press and EdSource and republished with permission.
CONCORD, Calif. – Aylah Levy had some catching up to do this fall when she started first grade.
After spending her kindergarten year at an alternative program that met exclusively outdoors, Aylah, 6, had to adjust to being inside a classroom. She knew only a handful of numbers and was not printing her letters clearly. To help her along, the teacher at her Bay Area elementary school has been showing her the right way to hold a pencil.
“It’s harder. Way, way harder,” Aylah said of the new grip.
Still, her mother, Hannah Levy, says it was the right decision to skip kindergarten. She wanted Aylah to enjoy being a kid. There is plenty of time, she reasoned, for her daughter to develop study skills.
The number of kindergartners in public school plunged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerned about the virus or wanting to avoid online school, hundreds of thousands of families delayed the start of school for their young children. Most have returned to schooling of some kind, but even three years after the pandemic school closures, kindergarten enrollment has continued to lag.
Some parents like Levy don’t see much value in traditional kindergarten. For others, it’s a matter of keeping children in other child care arrangements that better fit their lifestyles. And for many, kindergarten simply is no longer the assumed first step in a child’s formal education, another sign of the way the pandemic and online learning upended the U.S. school system.
Kindergarten enrollment remained down 5.2 percent in the 2022-2023 school year compared with the 2019-2020 school year, according to an Associated Press analysis of state-level data. Public school enrollment across all grades fell 2.2 percent.
Kindergarten is considered a crucial year for children to learn to follow directions, regulate behavior and get accustomed to learning. Missing that year of school can put kids at a disadvantage, especially those from low-income families and families whose first language is not English, said Deborah Stipek, a former dean of the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University. Those children are sometimes behind in recognizing letters and counting to 10 even before starting school, she said.
But to some parents, that foundation seems less urgent post-pandemic. For many, kindergarten just doesn’t seem to work for their lives.
Related: We know how to help young kids cope with the trauma of the last year – but will we do it?
Students who disengaged during the pandemic school closures have been making their way back to schools. But kindergarten enrollment remained down 5.2 percent in the 2022-2023 school year compared with the 2019-2020 school year, according to an Associated Press analysis of state-level data. Public school enrollment across all grades fell 2.2 percent.
Kindergarten means a seismic change in some families’ lifestyles. After years of all-day child care, they suddenly must manage afternoon pickups with limited and expensive options for after-school care. Some worry their child isn’t ready for the structure and behavioral expectations of a public school classroom. And many think whatever their child misses at school can be quickly learned in first grade.
Christina Engram was set to send her daughter Nevaeh to kindergarten this fall at her neighborhood school in Oakland, until she learned her daughter would not have a spot in the after-school program there. That meant she would need to be picked up at 2:30 most afternoons.
“If I put her in public school, I would have to cut my hours, and I basically wouldn’t have a good income for me and my kids,” said Engram, a preschool teacher and a mother of two.
Engram decided to keep Nevaeh in a child care center for another year. Engram receives a state child care subsidy that helps her pay for full-time child care or preschool until her child is 6 and must enroll in first grade.
“If I put her in public school, I would have to cut my hours, and I basically wouldn’t have a good income for me and my kids.”
Christina Engram, a preschool teacher and a mother of two
Compared with kindergarten, she believed her daughter would be more likely to receive extra attention at the child care center, which has more adult staff per child.
“She knows her numbers. She knows her ABC’s. She knows how to spell her name,” Engram said. “But when she feels frustrated that she can’t do something, her frustration overtakes her. She needs extra attention and care. She has some shyness about her when she thinks she’s going to give the wrong answer.”
Related: Luring Covid-cautious parents back to school
In California, where kindergarten is not mandatory, enrollment for that grade fell 10.1 percent from the 2019-20 to 2021-22 school year. Enrollment seemed to rebound in the next school year, growing by over 5 percent in fall 2022, but that may have been inflated by the state’s expansion of transitional kindergarten — a grade before kindergarten that is available to older 4-year-olds. The state Department of Education has not disclosed how many children last school year were regular kindergartners as opposed to transitional students.
Many would-be kindergartners are among the tens of thousands of families that have turned to homeschooling.
Some parents say they came to homeschooling almost accidentally. Convinced their family wasn’t ready for “school,” they kept their 5-year-old home, then found they needed more structure. They purchased some activities or a curriculum — and homeschooling stuck.
Others chose homeschooling for kindergartners after watching older children in traditional school. Jenny Almazan is homeschooling Ezra, 6, after pulling his sister Emma, 9, from a school in Chino, California.
“She would rush home from school, eat dinner, do an hour or two of schoolwork, shower and go to bed. She wasn’t given time to be a kid,” Almazan said. Almazan also worried about school shootings and pressures her kids might face at school to act or dress a certain way.
To make it all work, Almazan quit her job as a preschool teacher. Most days, the children’s learning happens outside of the home, when they are playing at the park, visiting museums or even doing math while grocery shopping.
“She would rush home from school, eat dinner, do an hour or two of schoolwork, shower and go to bed. She wasn’t given time to be a kid.”
Jenny Almazan, who is homeschooling Ezra, 6, after pulling his sister Emma, 9, from a school in Chino, California
“My kids are not missing anything by not being in public school,” she said. “Every child has different needs. I’m not saying public school is bad. It’s not. But for us, this fits.”
Kindergarten is important for all children, but especially those who do not attend preschool or who haven’t had much exposure to math, reading and other subjects, said Steve Barnett, co-director for the National Institute for Early Education Research and a professor at Rutgers University.
“The question actually is: If you didn’t go to kindergarten, what did you do instead?” he said.
Related: Millions of kids are missing weeks of school as attendance tanks across the US
Hannah Levy chose the Berkeley Forest School to start her daughter’s education, in part because she valued how teachers infused subjects like science with lessons on nature. She pictured traditional kindergarten as a place where children sit inside at desks, do worksheets and have few play-based experiences.
“I learned about nature. We learned in a different way,” daughter Aylah said.
But the appeal of a suburban school system had brought the family from San Francisco, and when it came time for first grade, Aylah enrolled at Cornell Elementary in Albany.
Early this fall, Levy recalled Aylah coming home with a project where every first grader had a page in a book to write about who they were. Some pages had only scribbles and others had legible print. She said Aylah fell somewhere in the middle.
“It was interesting to me because it was the moment I thought, ‘What would it be like if she was in kindergarten?’” she said.
In a conference with Levy, Aylah’s teacher said she was working with the girl on her writing, but there were no other concerns. “She said anything Aylah was behind on, she has caught up to the point that she would never differentiate that Aylah didn’t go to Cornell for kindergarten as well,” Levy said.
Levy said she feels good about Aylah’s attitude toward school, though she misses knowing she was outside interacting with nature.
So does Aylah.
“I miss my friends and being outside,” she said. “I also miss my favorite teacher.”
Lurye reported from New Orleans and Stavely reported from Oakland. Daniel J. Willis of EdSource contributed from Concord.
This article was produced by The Associated Press and. EdSource is a nonprofit newsroom based in California that covers equity in education with in-depth analysis and data-driven journalism.
The Associated Press receives support from the Overdeck Family Foundation for reporting focused on early learning. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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CHEYANNE MUMPHREY, Sharon Lurye and Zaidee Stavely
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Two other plaintiffs are also suing the state over a law that bans teachers from addressing their gender identity on the job.
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Key points:
By now, we hear the term “artificial intelligence” more than a few times a day. But despite the stereotypical sci-fi depictions of AI, it has a legitimate place in today’s classrooms.
Innovative educators and students are finding new ways to integrate AI into teaching and learning every day. Teachers can spend more one-on-one time with students when they use AI to quickly complete tedious tasks. Students, on the other hand, learn how to critically evaluate information and learn about biases when they analyze information coming from generative AI sources.
Here are 5 ways educators are incorporating AI into the classrooms right now:
1. This English teacher created a project-based scenario: The students were attorneys for a law firm, and the teacher is their client, bringing them this challenge: She is thinking about investing in ChatGPT. Based on their understanding and the research they’d conduct during The Crucible unit, should she? What would be the implications? The upsides and the down? Typically, at the end of a unit on The Crucible, she asks students to put various characters on trial, backing up their ideas with plenty of original evidence. This time around, she wanted them to also put ChatGPT on trial. What are its strengths and opportunities, its weaknesses and threats?
2. These Florida-based teachers are using AI to prioritize student-centered activities: Every student needs something slightly different to learn well. When we have tools as teachers that allow us to meet those individualized needs and support the whole student, we know that learning improves. We can now use AI to customize activities that support mental health, give students more ownership over their own learning, and even provide more individualized, responsive tutoring. Your students will likely see AI showing up in their classrooms this year in ways that put them in the driving seat and help make learning feel directed precisely at them, their needs, and their interests.
3. This educator posits that ChatGPT is now a part of learning, and teachers must accept it–with a few conditions: It is time for educators to treat ChatGPT as an unreliable partner in all assignments and to provide a way for students to let us know how much help they received. He specifies an unreliable partner because there is no way to know where ChatGPT got its information for any single response. It uses a mathematical model of likely words, not research. It’s basically auto-complete on steroids. ChatGPT is like a classmate who has read extensively and is really confident about everything they say but can’t remember exactly where they got their information from. It could be an academic publication or it could be a conspiracy website. And that is how we should treat it – a partner who sounds like they know what they are talking about but still needs to be fact-checked.
4. A higher-ed faculty member offers insights on how to determine if generative AI has been used in assignments: Instructors at all levels should consider certain criteria to help them determine whether text-based submissions were student or AI-generated. Lack of personal experiences or generalized examples are a potential sign of AI-generated writing–for instance, “My family went to the beach in the car” is more likely to be AI-generated than “Mom, Betty, and Rose went to the 3rd Street beach to swim.” Instructors should look for unusual or complete phrases that a student would not normally employ–a high school student speaking of a lacuna in his school records might be a sign the paper was AI-generated.
5. This school leader uses AI to help students learn history by having life-like conversations with tech-powered versions of Socrates, Gandhi, and Dr. Martin Luther King. Students can learn about gravity by chatting with an AI-powered version of Sir Isaac Newton. They can learn about art from Frida Kahlo and about WW2 by chatting with a teenage version of Anne Frank. This level of engagement was unheard of before now.
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Laura Ascione
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