Des Moines Superintendent and 2000 Olympian Ian Roberts recently lost a footrace to one of his fifth-grade students. Equipped with his three-piece suit and tennis shoes, he would soon discover all his years of training would be bested by little Amayah Vilmael, who “has a really promising career in track and field if she so chooses,” Roberts told NPR.
What a fun way to spend time with students before the school year comes to a close. Welcome to the first installment District Administration‘s “TGIF Timesaver,” a collection of timely and sometimes comical news to get you and your staff back on track after a busy week.
Now let’s talk about artificial intelligence. That’s right, another article about the catastrophic end of academic integrity, original thought and teaching as a human profession.
But that’s not the case at all. Educators have a lot to look forward to as Microsoft has just teamed up with Khan Academy to equip millions of teachers with AI tools. Khan Academy is now providing free access to its pilot of Khanmigo for Teachers.
“Teachers are super overworked,” Khan Academy CEO Sal Khan said in Microsoft’s announcement. He hopes this partnership will aid teachers with unmanageable workloads “to make teaching more sustainable.”
And if you haven’t heard yet, ChatGPT’s innovative upgrades are moving at warp speed and will leave you reminiscing about your first brick of a cell phone thinking it was state-of-the-art.
More from DA: Why success is a ‘team effort’ for Virginia’s Superintendent of the Year
Doubling down on desegregation
This week also marked the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. Recognizing that there’s still progress to be made, the U.S. Department of Education is allocating $20 million to school districts to implement magnet programs to desegregate public schools. The states receiving such funds include Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina and Texas.
Additionally, the Biden administration has pledged to preserve African American history by protecting historic sites and increasing access to literature. It’s a move that comes after states like Florida originally rejected the College Board’s new AP African American Studies course in 2023 when Gov. Ron DeSantis argued it “lacks educational value and historical accuracy.”
“This effort will bolster African American history and culture as integral, indelible parts of American history,” according to a statement from the White House.
Do we care what Bill Gates is reading?
If you’re looking for a good read this summer while you’re sipping mojitos poolside in the Bahamas (one could only hope), Bill Gates, who often likes to share what he’s reading with the world, recommended this week Sal Khan’s new book “Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education (and Why That’s a Good Thing).”
If you're passionate about education, you need to read this book. Sal offers a compelling vision for harnessing AI to expand opportunity for all. https://t.co/5QwCp1ar0G
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 14, 2024
Gates has long expressed his excitement about AI’s potential for enhancing students’ educational experiences. Last year, on his “Unconfuse Me” podcast, he said, “I do think the AI will be like a great high school teacher who really marks your essay, and you go back and think, ‘OK, I need to step up there.'”
So get out there and explore AI for yourself. Embrace being a leader who strives to keep up with the times. It’ll pay off once you can show students how to use ChatGPT to write Shakespearian literature to the tune of Simon and Garfunkel—but as if they formed as a hip hop band… or something like that.
Speaking of podcasts…
If you haven’t tuned in already, every Tuesday District Administration releases an episode of its “Talking Out of School” podcast. To date, we’ve invited a range of experts ranging from school safety to LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho where he shared the creative process behind the district’s new AI assistant “Ed” for students. You can find all of our episodes here.
This week from DA
And before you go, check out some of our top stories from the week including a conversation with Virginia’s Superintendent of the Year Doug Straley and the latest challenge for district leaders prepping for the 2024-25 school year: school closures.
