Classroom technology experiments and political shifts challenge public schools

by Bernadette Achieng About Bernadette AchiengOctober 30, 20266 links · ~34 min read · ~1 min for the TL;DR

Office Hours by Bernadette Achieng: six links on Education every week.

TL;DR

Schools must teach students to question where AI chatbot answers come from and help them evaluate political information for themselves.
A November 3 election will test how aggressively a new Indianapolis Public Schools board will respond after losing power to a state-created corporation.
Certified librarians improve reading and tech skills, yet Michigan public schools do not require them, leading to their disappearance across the state.
School districts conducting AI experiments face difficulties measuring whether the technology is ultimately positive or negative for their students.
Brandon Brown highlights Indianapolis as a model education system that combines school-level autonomy with system-level accountability and shared infrastructure.
Midterm candidates across opposing political camps have united in criticizing classroom screen time and AI, though neither party has taken ownership of the pushback.

From the curator

Schools are contending with unproven digital technologies while facing shifting local governance and political debates. NPR's 4-minute article explains that schools experimenting with AI struggle to measure whether the technology is actually helping or harming students. Meanwhile, Chalkbeat's 4-minute article reports that midterm candidates across political divides have found common ground criticizing screen time and AI, even as neither major political party owns the backlash. At the same time, changes in staffing and governance introduce further instability: Kafi Kumasi's 5-minute article in The Conversation notes that certified librarians are vanishing from Michigan schools despite boosting reading and technical skills, while Indianapolis Public Schools faces lost authority following state legislative action.

Bernadette Achieng

Curated for this issue

edsurge.com5 min readAI, Elections and the Making of an Informed Electorate
As AI chatbots answer voters’ questions in seconds, schools need to teach students to ask where those answers come from — and to reach their own ...

Chalkbeat8 min readNot your average school board election: The Nov. 3 contest will show the appetite IPS has for conflict
Indianapolis Public Schools has lost power to a new corporation created by state lawmakers. How much will a new IPS board seek out confrontation in response?

The Conversation5 min readSchool librarians are vanishing from Michigan schools just when they are needed most
Certified librarians can help boost students’ reading and technological skills but aren’t required in Michigan public schools.

Kafi Kumasi · curated 1 time

NPR4 min readSchools struggle to measure how much AI experiments are helping
Schools are experimenting with AI, and a lot of them are encountering the same problem: It's hard to measure whether the technology is good or bad for students.

the74million.org5 min readTo Build the Education Systems of the Future, Look to Indianapolis
Brown: The city offers an example of pairing school-level autonomy with system-level accountability and shared infrastructure.

Brandon Brown · curated 1 time

Chalkbeat4 min readThe fight over screens in schools has no political home — yet
In the midterm elections, candidates who disagree about other issues have found common ground criticizing screen time and AI in schools. But neither political party has claimed…

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From the curator

edsurge.com5 min readAI, Elections and the Making of an Informed ElectorateAs AI chatbots answer voters’ questions in seconds, schools need to teach students to ask where those answers come from — and to reach their own ...

Chalkbeat8 min readNot your average school board election: The Nov. 3 contest will show the appetite IPS has for conflictIndianapolis Public Schools has lost power to a new corporation created by state lawmakers. How much will a new IPS board seek out confrontation in response?

The Conversation5 min readSchool librarians are vanishing from Michigan schools just when they are needed mostCertified librarians can help boost students’ reading and technological skills but aren’t required in Michigan public schools.

NPR4 min readSchools struggle to measure how much AI experiments are helpingSchools are experimenting with AI, and a lot of them are encountering the same problem: It's hard to measure whether the technology is good or bad for students.

the74million.org5 min readTo Build the Education Systems of the Future, Look to IndianapolisBrown: The city offers an example of pairing school-level autonomy with system-level accountability and shared infrastructure.

Chalkbeat4 min readThe fight over screens in schools has no political home — yetIn the midterm elections, candidates who disagree about other issues have found common ground criticizing screen time and AI in schools. But neither political party has claimed…