Join Chalkbeat Indiana’s free day by day e-newsletter to maintain up with Indianapolis Public Faculties, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide schooling information.
Indianapolis Public Faculties is contemplating a coverage on synthetic intelligence that may information the district because it experiments with AI instruments for academics and employees.
The coverage — which the varsity board might vote on later this month — follows a yearlong pilot program during which 20 employees members used a district-approved AI software to higher perceive its makes use of and challenges. Though the coverage doesn’t handle particular acceptable pupil makes use of, it lists common guiding factors for employees to make sure AI instruments are appropriately used for instructing and studying.
“There’s nonetheless rather a lot to study from a broader group of grownup customers earlier than we’re placing college students in an surroundings that perhaps doesn’t match curriculum or what academics are studying on the similar time,” Ashley Cowger, the district’s chief techniques officer, mentioned. “We need to be sure that employees really feel effectively geared up to find out what the boundaries are to be used of AI in a classroom.”
The fundamental pointers are one step into a posh AI panorama that IPS and different districts now navigate. Whereas districts might use instruments such because the chatbots ChatGPT and Google Gemini to chop down on time-consuming, administrative duties, they have to additionally stability issues over on-line pupil privateness and inherent bias within the artifical instruments.
Plus, IPS will launch a second section of its pilot AI program this upcoming faculty yr during which much more employees will use a generative AI software — the chatbot Google Gemini. Nonetheless, the district just isn’t but adopting a districtwide software for employees.
“We’re targeted on taking part in the lengthy sport in order that we’re not discovering ourselves in a scenario the place we’re procuring a bunch of various techniques after which these techniques don’t meet our wants in a yr or two,” Cowger advised the varsity board in Could.
The district didn’t reply to questions from Chalkbeat Indiana in regards to the second section of the pilot program and future guidelines for pupil use of AI instruments by deadline.
AI might help lesson plans, create studies
The draft coverage states that AI should be used to provide equitable outcomes whereas additionally adhering to relevant federal legal guidelines such because the Household Instructional Rights and Privateness Act, which mandates the privateness of pupil data.
Employees should solely use AI instruments accepted by the district, which might license the suitable AI merchandise, in accordance with the draft coverage. An “AI Advisory Committee” of directors, academics, and know-how and authorized consultants would additionally present enter on the districtwide use of AI.
It’s unclear when the advisory committee can be created.
Acceptable makes use of of AI listed within the draft coverage embody utilizing it to:
- Draft communications similar to emails and newsletters
- Create knowledge summaries or studies
- Assist lesson planning
- Automate “repetitive, low-risk duties”
The appropriate makes use of had been formed by this previous faculty yr’s pilot, which concluded that utilizing AI helps employees do extra advanced analytical duties with much less human brainpower and capability, Cowger advised the board.
“It additionally allowed us to simplify administrative duties,” she mentioned. “Our colleges ship out newsletters each week. We additionally do district communication often. We now have instruments like a generative AI software that may assist us at the least craft a primary draft that doesn’t require 100% of human brainpower on a regular basis.”
The primary section of the pilot included academics, directors, and central workplace employees.
Google Gemini will price $177 per consumer within the second section of the pilot program for 2025-26, Cowger mentioned. The second, broader section might assist the district work out how far it want to stretch its use of AI going into the 2026-27 faculty yr.
Cowger mentioned the district’s “accountable use agreements” for district-issued know-how, similar to laptops, can even must be up to date to “embody the world of AI.”
And though the district negotiated a less expensive price per consumer for Gemini within the second section of the pilot, Cowger mentioned officers should take into consideration the longer term potential price if AI use grows districtwide.
Utilizing free variations of AI instruments comes with the danger of sharing delicate pupil info — similar to a pupil’s personalised schooling plan — on the web, Cowger mentioned.
The district has additionally outlined a “roadmap” for skilled studying for employees that will probably be used within the upcoming faculty yr.
“From listening to suggestions from the pilot group over the course of this yr we heard a whole lot of what individuals need to know. Folks need to understand how the instruments truly work. They perceive it’s not magic, however additionally they don’t must know all the science behind it,” Cowger mentioned. “One thing within the center that they should perceive.”
Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township colleges for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.
