Illuminations and Insights

The release of generative AI tools like ChatGPT has unleashed innumerable possibilities for new interfaces between computers and human experts (like teachers), where the algorithm is not just reporting information, but can instead act like a superpowered assistant. Although AI models have the potential to provide valuable insights at a low-cost to educators, challenges remain when applying these models to the education sector due to privacy concerns and data infrastructure barriers. In this blog, EA’s CEO Andrew Rice describes the importance of training AI models using specific contextual data and proposes a public-interest driven AI strategy that uses common data surfaces, prioritizes non-commercial infrastructures, and empowers educators to leverage AI tools while safeguarding privacy and avoiding commercial exploitation.

The 2022-23 school year marked the first academic year when most students were back in school full time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst the challenge of educating the 49.5 million students in the public education system, educators, parents, families, and those who support them continue to learn about how the pandemic has changed the education landscape. We asked six leaders from across Education Analytics to reflect on the lessons they’ve learned from the past school year. In this blog, we share their thoughts about the ever-evolving landscape of digital tools, teaching methods, and innovations in the post-pandemic era of K-12 education.

Data interoperability is poised to radically transform educational research by making work with educational data less costly but more efficient, scalable, and actionable. In our latest blog, EA’s CEO Andrew Rice highlights 10 questions that researchers could answer more meaningfully, more accurately, and more quickly when using interoperable data streams. The blog describes how interoperability is on the cusp of revolutionizing educational research by effortlessly bringing together data from different sources, allowing statistical research outputs to live in real time, and turning rigorous research into actionable, operational systems for educators.

The amount of data generated by schools and school districts continues to grow and it is a challenge to bring together all of those data in a manner that informs timely action. Our latest product, Podium, empowers schools and school districts with actionable data to help better serve students, families, and staff. In this blog, we describe how Podium helps to deliver the right data at the right time.

By employing a combination of high-dosage tutoring and consistent family engagement using known best practices, Future Forward has emerged and cemented its status as a leading practitioner of literacy instruction for children. In this blog, we discuss Future Forward’s history, scale up, evolution, and vision for what is next in the pursuit to make all children joyful, confident readers.