In Louisiana, more than 100,000 students are using an AI tutor that is helping to raise reading scores.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Artificial intelligence has raised concerns among some school leaders about students using it to cheat, but some teachers are excited about the technology. More than a hundred thousand students in Louisiana are using an AI-powered tutor to help them learn to read. From member station WWNO, Aubri Juhasz reports.
AUBRI JUHASZ, BYLINE: A little girl, 6 or 7 years old, is sitting with a laptop, talking to a friendly voice called Amira.
AMIRA: Ready. Set. Start.
JUHASZ: In this demonstration video, the first line of a simple story appears on screen. The girl starts to read.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #1: He will hop.
JUHASZ: When she gets stuck, the AI assistant acts like an actual tutor. Amira uses artificial intelligence to try and figure out why the student is struggling. Then, it runs through dozens of tested tutoring strategies and jumps in.
AMIRA: There are three sounds in this word.
JUHASZ: Three boxes and three red balls appear on the screen.
AMIRA: Move the first red ball into the first box and say the first sound.
JUHASZ: As the girl drags the balls into the boxes one by one, Amira helps her sound the word out.
AMIRA: T-ou-ch. Now put those sounds together and say the word.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #1: Touch.
AMIRA: Super. Let’s keep going.
JUHASZ: This is just a pre-recorded demo. But here’s what it sounds like in a classroom outside of New Orleans when about a dozen students are reading with Amira.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #2: Ta (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #3: Tuh (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #4: Chuh (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #5: Tuh.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #6: Ma (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #7: Ah (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #8: Puh (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #9: Cha (ph).
JUHASZ: The kids are at their desks, wearing headsets that kind of make them look like tiny telemarketers. Just like with the girl in the demo, Amira is coaching each child, offering them personalized help when they stumble.
MICHELLE MONTAGNINO: I thought it was the craziest thing ever.
JUHASZ: Michelle Montagnino is principal of Johnson Elementary in Gretna, Louisiana. More than half of the school’s students are learning English as a second language. That makes teaching them to read even more difficult. Tutoring is one of the most effective ways to catch kids up, but quality tutors are expensive and in short supply. Montagnino says before Amira, they just didn’t have enough. So last year, the school used the tool to tutor students learning English.
MONTAGNINO: This fills in the gaps so much better, and it’s fun.
JUHASZ: Amira is AI, so she can help kids in Spanish, too. Now every kid in the school is using the tool several times a week. It’s part of the state’s larger push to grow reading scores, and it’s shown early success. The research on computer-based tutoring isn’t clear, but there are a few independent studies that show Amira can help boost students’ learning when the tool is used regularly. Adam DiBenedetto says the technology worked for his third-graders, and it made him a better teacher.
ADAM DIBENEDETTO: It was very helpful to have Amira kind of walk alongside me.
JUHASZ: DiBenedetto now works for Louisiana’s Department of Education and is in charge of bringing Amira into more classrooms. He says by the time the state’s two-year pilot is over…
DIBENEDETTO: I think we’re going to see some interesting impacts, and we’ll definitely have some data to make prudent decisions in the future.
JUHASZ: Like whether to spend even bigger money on AI. The company behind Amira says 2 million children already use the tool. Experts caution the technology isn’t a replacement for teachers or even all tutors. It can’t build relationships with students like humans can.
MONTAGNINO: I’m old-school. I still believe people, especially with reading for little kids – that’s where it’s at.
JUHASZ: Montagnino, the principal in Gretna, says for that reason, she was skeptical at first.
MONTAGNINO: But this, to supplement good science of reading instruction in the classroom? This is great.
JUHASZ: And it’s likely to get better because just as kids are learning from Amira, it’s learning from them, too.
For NPR News, I’m Aubri Juhasz in New Orleans.
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