"In Dallas ISD, we are committed to leveraging AI to enhance the educational experience for all students while ensuring that its use aligns with our core values of equity, innovation, and academic excellence," reads the district's 12-page AI handbook.
On Tuesday, Dallas ISD announced a brand new “cutting-edge artificial intelligence initiative,” which will introduce AI software to help middle school math teachers personalize and “improve teaching methods when students struggle to grasp challenging math concepts,” according to a release from the district.
“Our leadership team has a readiness to innovate in this space. We value learning new tools to set our teachers and students up for success,” said the district’s chief academic officer, Angie Gaylord, in a release. “We hope this tool builds our teachers’ confidence in teaching math concepts in middle school, including rigorous algebraic thinking.”
The program is made possible through a partnership between the district and Educate Texas, a branch of the Communities Foundation of Texas, and funded by a $1.7 million grant from the Texas Instruments Foundation to Educate Texas.
“Our hope is that Dallas ISD will be both a thought partner and leader in how districts can pilot, adopt and scale the most effective AI tools to ensure our students are ready for the future with AI,” said Kerri Briggs, executive director of Educate Texas.
Briggs describes AI as a “great equalizer,” but says its potential is contingent on its proper use. The district has long had a welcoming attitude toward AI, encouraging responsible uses and technical literacy over bans like those enforced in some Central Texas school districts.
“There’s going to be a lot more of [AI],” Sean Brinkman, former chief technical officer for Dallas ISD, said to People Newspapers in 2023. “It’s going to be everywhere, and we need to make sure that our kids are prepared to use it. Otherwise, they’re going to be left behind.”
Teachers Use AI, But They Don't Like It
The use of AI remains controversial. However, its applied benefits are undeniable. In a Gallup survey, 60% of teachers said they used AI tools and saved up to six hours per week. Even the Texas Education Agency has taken advantage of AI for secondary tasks like grading, using an automated scoring engine for written responses on STAAR exams.“We wanted to keep as many constructed open-ended responses as we can, but they take an incredible amount of time to score,” Jose Rios, director of student assessment at the Texas Education Agency, said to the Texas Tribune.
Even still, polls prove teachers aren’t enthusiastic about using AI in their classrooms, and apprehension increases with grade level. A 2023 study from the Pew Research Center found that a quarter of the roughly 2,500 public school teachers surveyed said AI does more harm than good in the education sphere. Another 35% said they were unsure of the software’s role in the classroom, 32% said there were equal pros and cons and only 6% said there was more good than harm done by fully integrating AI. When broken down by grade level, high school teachers had the most sizable negative attitude towards AI.
"There is so much drudgery in the job, but the answer to that is to improve the conditions of teachers' work," Lois Weiner, a career teacher and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) union member, said to CBS.
But even the AFT has embraced AI’s role in the future of education. In July, they announced the National Academy for AI Instruction, a $23 million initiative offering free AI training and curriculum to all 1.8 million union members. The program is a partnership between the AFT and leading tech companies like Microsoft and OpenAI.
“AI holds tremendous promise but huge challenges—and it’s our job as educators to make sure AI serves our students and society, not the other way around,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten in a press release. “The direct connection between a teacher and their kids can never be replaced by new technologies, but if we learn how to harness it, set commonsense guardrails and put teachers in the driver’s seat, teaching and learning can be enhanced.”
