The crisis of academic underachievement in the U.S. and the vacuum of support in developing nations are not caused by a lack of knowledge about what works; they are caused by an inability to scale what works. There is “DNA” common in high-performing schools, whether public, charter or private, that when replicated ensures success.
Artificial intelligence can enhance that DNA and be a bridge to delivering it to every child, regardless of ZIP code or country of origin. The DNA can be broken down into five pillars.
Pillar 1: Early childhood education.
Early childhood education prepares children for school by fostering essential academic, social and emotional skills through play-based learning and structured routines. Key benefits include development of foundational literacy and numeracy, improvement in self-regulation and social skills, promotion of curiosity, and increased confidence for future learning. Learning to follow instructions, share and manage emotions makes the transition to kindergarten smoother.
Pillar 2: Standardized, aligned curriculum.
A quality, data-driven curriculum is aligned grade by grade. This ensures that each teacher knows exactly what foundations were laid in the previous grade and what benchmarks must be hit to prepare students for the next grade. High-performing schools implement internationally benchmarked standards and assessments, ensuring curriculum depth and high academic expectations for all students, regardless of background.
Pillar 3: Data-driven interventions.
Robust data systems are used to assess student progress, allowing educators to instantly inform instruction, identify gaps and tailor interventions. Data must be used for early and continuous intervention, addressing not only a student’s academic deficiencies but also the student’s behavioral needs and determining whether there are other issues such as family crises that need to be addressed.
Pillar 4: Leadership-driven accountability.
Quality schools are led by instructional experts, not just administrators. This requires a culture of constant teacher supervision and redundant training. Successful schools adopt a “no excuses” philosophy, cultivating a rigorous, achievement-oriented culture that refuses to accept low standards for any student. Just as schools do not ignore a struggling student, teachers are closely monitored and evaluated to determine their effectiveness and whether support or replacement is needed.
Pillar 5: Instructional time on task.
The achievement gap is very much a time gap. High-performing schools understand that not all students learn at the same pace. This requires more instructional “time on task,” through extending the school day and the school year if necessary to ensure that every student has the instructional minutes required to reach mastery of the standards. A robust summer program cuts down on summer academic loss that disproportionately affects children of lower-income families.
AI can also be a force multiplier for school DNA. If the five pillars represent the DNA of success, AI is the technology that allows that DNA to be strengthened and applied more broadly, regardless of income or ZIP code. AI can make education more affordable by automating administrative tasks, providing personalized tutoring and interventions and enabling subscription-based learning models.
Consider the ways AI can support the DNA.
1. AI can expand early childhood education and extend it.
AI-driven platforms could provide 24/7 personalized coaching ensuring pregnant teens receive the proper guidance on prenatal care to ensure that the child is born healthy and that proper guidance is provided so the child has access to early literacy, early numeracy, and vocabulary. These are essential components to closing the achievement gap. Young mothers would continue to be coached from the prenatal phase until the child enters kindergarten.
2. Unprecedented and instantly accessible curriculum and instructional supports.
AI could help audit a school’s curriculum against national and even global standards. It would ensure a dynamic system that adapts instructional materials to be not only academically rigorous but also culturally relevant and linguistically accessible. AI-powered platforms could adapt to a student’s unique learning pace and style, offering customized content to address specific knowledge gaps, which would be crucial for disadvantaged students.
3. More immediacy as well as more interventions.
AI could move us from reactive to predictive intervention. By analyzing patterns in student data — from benchmark tests to behavioral triggers — AI could alert educators to a problem before it manifests as a failing grade. It could provide teachers with a “prescriptive” dashboard, showing them which students need which specific interventions today. AI could also act as a 24/7 tutor, offering immediate feedback and assistance, which may help bridge the gap for students who lack access to expensive private tutoring or specialized teachers.
4. More effective teacher monitoring, training and coaching.
For school leaders, AI could be a teacher coach as well as an extra set of eyes in the classroom. It could analyze classroom recordings to provide teachers with instant feedback on student engagement and instructional clarity. It could allow for personalized and continuous professional development and coaching. By automating administrative tasks and lesson planning, AI would allow educators to spend more time on direct student interaction and needed interventions.
5. Extended and more personalized Instructional time on task.
AI could accelerate the move of education away from the archaic “factory model.” Through adaptive learning platforms, every student could get the time on task they need as AI provides the scaffolding and practice, effectively giving every child a personal tutor. AI also could facilitate and make affordable continuing education in the form of extended-day and extended-year academic and enrichment activities.
If the public school experiences with technology during the COVID-19 shutdowns are any indication, schools will be slow to take advantage of the AI breakthroughs despite the considerable advantages to teachers and students. Look to the teachers unions to resist any effort for AI to take on teacher responsibility and oppose any effort to replace even future staff with AI.
AI is not intended to replace the teacher but to augment human capital by providing critical and affordable support for the instructional DNA. AI could allow the poorest schools anywhere to leapfrog infrastructure and instructional deficits, providing the same structural support found in the world’s best school districts.
AI must be implemented with equity, privacy and human-centered safeguards.
Paul Vallas is an adviser for the Illinois Policy Institute. He ran for Chicago mayor in 2023 and was previously budget director for the city and CEO of Chicago Public Schools.
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