Teacher Unions Sounding Alarm Over New AI-Driven Classroom Model
“says its students learn twice as fast”
Is it possible that Artificial Intelligence will put teachers and teacher unions out of business? Can you even imagine it?
FOX News reports:
AI-driven school expanding to major US cities despite union pushback
An unconventional private school model that replaces traditional classroom lectures with artificial intelligence is gearing up for a massive nationwide expansion this fall, even as critics and powerful teachers unions sound the alarm.
Alpha Schools, which says its students learn twice as fast as those in “standard” schools, is planning to open new campuses in Chicago, Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, and several California hubs, including Santa Monica, Palo Alto and the East Bay. The school already operates in Austin, New York and Miami.
The Alpha model is built on a “two-hour core” subject requirement. Students spend their mornings using adaptive AI software to master academics like math and English before transitioning to an afternoon of “life skills” workshops and project-based learning.
According to the school, the results are significant:
– Rapid Learning: Alpha claims its students learn at 2x the speed of traditional peers.
– Elite Scores: The school reports a median SAT score of 1530 for its graduating class and a 1410 for its freshman class.
– The Price Tag: In Chicago, the school is reportedly charging $55,000 in annual tuition.
Despite the high-end branding, the school is facing a wall of skepticism from the education establishment. Researchers warn that the long-term effects of removing human teachers from the primary instructional role are unknown.
“The research on personalized learning and [AI learning] is mixed at best,” Charles Logan, an education researcher at Northwestern’s Center for Responsible Technology, Policy and Public Dialogue, told Block Club Chicago. “I think the Alpha Schools’ approach to adaptive tutoring is like an open experiment [and] is not supported by critical research.”
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Comments
unions will tie this up in the courts
no more publicly funded education is the key
Here’s the one thing that the author here left out… To pass onto the next level, the student has to show MASTERY of the material… Not just a 70% C, but 95% on the test… No public school could survive if that was what it took for a student to pass.
“Is it possible that Artificial Intelligence will put teachers and teacher unions out of business?”
Miss Beadle and a McGuffey’s Reader could put teachers and unions out of business.
I’d prefer Our Miss Brooks.
“Researchers warn that the long-term effects of removing human teachers from the primary instructional role are unknown.”
But shutting the schools down and running Zoom classes long after the danger has been debunked is just fine,
Big Brother says everyone needs to be in one big happy class.
Education ends when the teacher has a discipline challenge.
Education slows down when some students need extra help.
With AI, the students can learn at their own pace.
Oh No. You mean the same teachers unions that kept students out of the classroom and schools shutdown for a couple of years in a cynical quest for more money now realizes that homeschooling and AI that took over might put them out of business? Who will indoctrinate the next generation?
Teachers and teacher’s unions ( there should be no organizing of public employees against the public! ) have earned their F for their FAILURE to educate. They had just one job– and FAILED. F’s all around.