Can Schools Trust AI Features in Edtech Products?

From tutoring tools to grading platforms, edtech vendors are frequently adding AI features to new and existing instructional materials. Almost every company selling these products says the features are educationally effective, so EdReports went looking for the evidence behind those claims. EdReports CEO Dr. Lewis Ferebee and Chief Academic Officer Courtney Allison join Ira Apfel to unpack what their new brief found and what district leaders should ask before signing their next vendor contract.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• AI is blurring the lines between core curriculum, supplemental materials, and standalone grading or tutoring tools, which makes it harder for district buyers to know what they are actually purchasing.
• Only one of the 10 providers in the EdReports scan cited third party evidence on student outcomes for its AI tool, and only two named an independent evaluator for their AI feature.
• Courtney Allison, a former New York City middle school math teacher, explains what is at stake when AI content reaches students in real time without a teacher reviewing it first.
• Lewis Ferebee, the longest serving chancellor in DC Public Schools history, shares the questions he would ask vendors, including whether a teacher can override the AI and whether the evidence covers the version a district is actually buying.
STORIES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE


Study: EdTech Is Rushing AI Integration Before Proving It Work (https://www.edsurge.com/news/s....tudy-edtech-is-rushi by Ira Apfel
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HOST AND CONTRIBUTORS


Host: Ira Apfel (https://www.edsurge.com/author/ira-apfel) , Editorial Director, EdSurge


Featuring:

• Dr. Lewis D. Ferebee (https://edreports.org/about/ou....r-team/dr-lewis-fere , CEO, EdReports
• Courtney Allison (https://edreports.org/about/ou....r-team/courtney-alli , Chief Academic Officer, EdReports