Week 220

June 16, 2024

Jump to: Top Tasks | From the Field | Key Resources | Moments of Resilience

It is week 220 in our new reality and we are thinking about what the future holds for AI and education.

Last week, Apple unveiled its approach to integrating AI into every aspect of its operating systems (an initiative it introduced as “Apple Intelligence” using the tagline “AI for the rest of us”). Coming this fall to the iPhones, iPads and Macs that students and teachers use every day are tools that will rewrite emails and papers in real-time, create illustrations to match the text and let Siri draw upon all the data on your device to coordinate your day. The new software will also put the power of ChatGPT in the hands of Apple users who may have never heard of the tool, helping ensure that Large Language Models (LLMs) go mainstream.

Last week also saw the release of the Walton Family Foundation’s latest survey of AI use by parents, teachers and students, conducted in partnership with the Learning Engineering Virtual Institute’s AI Lab. Reporting on theresults for CNBC, Eric Rosenbaum notes that “46% of teachers and 48% of students … use ChatGPT at least weekly, with student usage up 27 percentage points over last year.” As Rosenbaum explains, “The adoption rates in education are higher than currently occurring in the world of work, and it is students who have a high incentive to get help.”

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It’s clear that these AI tools will play an even more central role in K-12 education in the 2024-25 school year as adoption grows and this summer is theright time to get smart on the ways it can help–and hurt–learning inside and outside of the classroom.

Last time in the New Reality Roundup, we invited you to the 50CAN and FutureEd webinar on the expansion of tutoring and dove into the Louisiana Kids Matter Campaign’s win that secured a statewide ESA. This week, we dive into impressive learning outcomes of the Summer Boost program and share thelatest AdvocacyLabs video from 50CAN President Derrell Bradford.

TOP TASKS

Boost summer learning

“A philanthropic initiative launched in 2022 to get students back on track from COVID learning loss is returning promising results, a new study suggests: just four weeks spent in the Summer Boost program last year helped students regain nearly one-fourth of their reading skills and one-third of math skills, compared to students who didn’t participate in the program,” reports Greg Toppo for The 74 Million. “Researchers at Arizona State University examined over 35,000 Summer Boost students in eight cities, finding that in just 22 days of programming, on average, students saw about three to four weeks of reading progress and about four to five weeks in math. In reading, that works out to making up about 22% of COVID learning losses; in math, it’s about 31%.”

The Summer Boost program is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies in collaboration with 14 local and national funders and is administered by 50CAN through our Build initiative, which provides fiscal sponsorship services to organizations and entrepreneurs working to usher in the future of education in communities around the country. “We are thrilled to see the hard work of so many students and teachers pay off through this innovative initiative,” Kenna Little, 50CAN VP of Finance and Operations, shared. “We hope that many more communities get inspired to make expanding high-quality summer learning opportunities a top priority in the year ahead.”

Key to the success of the program, according to Bloomberg’s Sunny Larson, was how many schools utilized the Summer Boost funds to get “veteran educators back into the classroom” over the summer.

USC Professor of Education Morgan Polikoff, who wasn’t involved with thestudy, placed the results in context: “While I think many have the perception that summer school is rarely effective, these results show that well designed summer programs can indeed be a helpful tool to help catch children up or accelerate their growth.” He described the initial results to The 74 as “very promising.”

THE TASK OF THE WEEK IS

to share the impact of the Summer Boost program widely and to make the case for expanded summer opportunities as a permanent part of the future of education.

AdvocacyLabs

We

couldn’t let you all kick off your summer in earnest without hearing again from 50CAN President Derrell Bradford on the science of advocacy. The video is the fifth in our series, which draws upon the lessons from our AdvocacyLabs initiative, a partnership with FutureEd at Georgetown University. This week, Derrell explores the power of fact-checking elected officials to ensure honest engagement with your cause.

That isn’t all for AdvocacyLabs this summer! On June 25th we are hosting a forum with FutureEd on lessons learned from the expansion of tutoring and in July we will launch our final episode in this video series and a big new project we can’t wait to share.

THE TASK OF THE WEEK IS

to share the AdvocacyLabs video series with advocates and changemakers looking to improve their craft.

FROM THE FIELD

Louisiana Kids Matter’s Kelli Bottger didn’t rest on her laurels after passing the state’s first universal ESA. In the final days of Louisiana’s legislative session, Kelli and her partners secured funding and passed further bills to offer parents direct money for tutoring and summer learning, expand career pathways and implement a universal math screener.

It’s rare that our supporters get the opportunity to hear the dialogue that happens between our executive directors whenever they meet, but the latest episode of the New Mexico Rising podcast offers a glimpse into those conversations, when NewMexicoKidCAN’s Amanda Aragon is joined by HawaiiKidsCAN’s David Miyashiro and TennesseeCAN’s new executive director Chelsea Crawford.

Amanda also appeared on the local Bob Clark Podcast to discuss NewMexico’s shortcomings in the recently released Kids Count data and what solutions can improve the system moving forward.

With school budgets dwindling, Hawaii is facing a summer shortage of high-school counselors and HawaiiKidsCAN features as part of the solution in a new Civil Beat story.

50CAN President Derrell Bradford led the evening plenary at last week’s first inaugural VELACon, where school founders and educational entrepreneurs met to share their work and discuss critical topics to the rapidly growing microschool and homeschool sectors.

Key Resources

Thomas Arnett argues in Education Next that theschools of the future will come from new models and operators rather than internal changes and shifts to thecurrent system.

New America suggests that advocates for fair voting districts should be natural allies in ending educational redlining.

The future of microschools is bright and just beginning, Douglas Harris writes at Brookings, but to grow thesector operators will need to address parent questions over socialization, logistics and curriculum.

Former DC chancellor and founder of Reconstruction, Kaya Henderson, reflects in an interview with FutureEd on the challenges and opportunities of teaching Black history in the current climate.

Chalkbeat looks into a new proposal in front of NewYork’s Board of Regents that would end Regent’s examinations as a graduation requirement, opting instead for a portfolio-based approach.

Moment of Resilience

Students from The Point College Preparatory Leadership Academy, a charter school outside of Charlotte co-founded by CarolinaCAN Executive Director Marcus Brandon, showcased everything from public speaking to a cheerleading routine in front of the 50CAN staff during our annual team retreat. School principal and co-founder Dr. Michelle Johnson noted that the growing school has not only dramatically increased student achievement, it’s also re-invigorated the local community’s belief in what is possible.