Core questions
Our work has always focused on understanding what leaders, teachers, and students need to make great instruction possible. We brought the same lens to the AI in Action Learning Tour that we bring to our work with schools every day—closely examining the teaching moves, content, student engagement, and learning conditions that drive great teaching and learning.
We anchored to two core questions:
1
How does the student learning experience with this product compare to the learning experience that would otherwise typically be happening (i.e., paper-pencil instruction without AI)?
2
How does the student learning experience with this product compare to the very best learning experience we wish all students had access to in this content area or discipline?
Both questions matter. We need to see better learning outcomes and faster growth rates for students—and we especially want to see the students who currently have the least access to consistently strong instruction gain access to better learning experiences.
We also think that the promise of any instructional tool must be anchored to giving students the best possible learning experiences. That is, the bar shouldn't simply be "Are these learning experiences better than the current average?"; it should be "Are these learning experiences consistently excellent for all students?"
Our contribution to the conversation about AI's role in education is grounded in what we know best: instruction. Other factors—including data privacy, AI literacy, and environmental impact—also raise important questions, and we encourage organizations with relevant expertise to examine them closely.