SchoolAI

I’m thrilled to share that I’ve joined SchoolAI as the new VP, State and Strategic Partnerships! Stepping into this role feels both energizing and deeply aligned with my purpose of ensuring that all students have access to a high-quality education. After 15+ years of working across districts, states, and mission-driven organizations to expand educational access and empower all learners, I couldn’t say no to the kind of innovation that SchoolAI is bringing to education. What drew me here is simple: It is a vision bold enough to reach every learner and every educator in a district, supporting safety, academics, and well-being through human-centered technology. When you see a solution that finally answers the question of scalable and meaningful engagement, you pay attention. When you realize it can change lives, you say yes. In this role, I will support state-level strategy, implementation, and high-impact partnerships that elevate learning, strengthen educator support, and ensure that districts have what they need to create impactful and measurable change. I am excited, grateful, and ready to get to work alongside this incredible team. Here is to building what is possible and to making learning accessible, enjoyable, and more empowering for all. Let’s Make School Awesome Everyday!

Three years after ChatGPT's launch, GenAI usage is skyrocketing in schools—but deep thinking about how K-12 institutions should evolve remains scarce. To address this gap, AI for Education and Imagine Learning brought together 20 experts and students last summer for an unprecedented convening inspired by the AI 2027 project. Join Sari Factor from Imagine Learning, Ji Soo Song from SETDA, high school student Rotem Haimovich, and I on December 16th, at 1PM EST when we share what we learned and how you can bring this process to your own community. ✅ Why collective imagination is essential for moving from reactive policies to proactive transformation in education. ✅ Voices from the convening: A high school student and state-level education leader share what surprised them and how diverse stakeholder conversations changed their thinking. ✅ Preview of our research findings and practical frameworks for hosting your own scenario-based convening. Link in the comments to register! Can't make the time? A recording + resources will be emailed to all registrants.

Explainer: What Yesterday's AI Executive Order Means for Education Yesterday the White House issued an Executive Order with a new federal stance on AI regulation, aimed at preempting emerging state AI laws. The order creates an AI Litigation Task Force to challenge state laws the administration deems "onerous." It explicitly cites Colorado's AI Act as an example of overreach, asserting that laws banning algorithmic discrimination could force AI models to produce false results. 👉 What's notable for anyone working in education: Section 8b explicitly carves out child safety protections from the order. This means that states keep full authority to regulate AI to protect children, regardless of how the broader federal framework evolves. That's important because states have already gotten started. California just became the first state to regulate AI companion chatbots, requiring protocols to prevent self-harm content, crisis service referrals, and reminders to minors every three hours that they're talking to AI and not a human. This followed several high-profile incidents involving teenagers and non-educational chatbots. At my count at least 35 states have now issued AI guidance specifically for K-12 schools including mandates that all public schools adopt AI policies (Ohio) or that local school boards implement AI for students and staff (Tennessee). There’s a tension here. The EO frames state regulation as an innovation bottleneck. And yes, 50 different compliance regimes create real challenges, especially for smaller companies. 👉But education isn't a typical market, and innovation ought to be balanced with impact. Students are a captive audience. The power asymmetry between a child and an AI system demands a different risk calculus than enterprise software. We can’t move fast and break things. As I've been getting settled at SchoolAI, I think about this all the time. The child safety carve-out recognizes this, but that may lead to unintended consequences. If defined too broadly, you risk the healthy and strategic use of positive learning tools that support English learners, adapt to the needs of students with disabilities, or provide enrichment for students that are already ahead of their peers.  Prohibit tools entirely, and students will find open and unprotected use of AI through their phones rather than under the guidance of parents and educators, or don't learn to use modern tools at all. How broadly child safety is defined has real implications for AI in schools and for the development of AI literacy. Worth watching.

When my family moved west last year, I watched a motivated student use AI to unlock remarkable learning and creative agency, even as it was becoming clear to me how unprepared our education systems are for its widespread use. That experience reinforced a long-held belief: innovation must be human-centered. These powerful educational tools hold real promise to accelerate and extend learning, but they operate in personal relationships and on developing minds. That raises the bar for how these tools are designed, governed, and used. That’s why I’m stepping into a new role as VP of Ethics, Safety, and Learning Innovation at SchoolAI. The work ahead is to ensure AI improves learning, protects students and educators, and earns public trust as it scales. Ethics isn’t a side function here; it’s how product, research, and leadership decisions get made in uncertainty. What drew me to SchoolAI wasn’t just the technology, but the way the team invests in trust, learning outcomes, and institutional responsibility, even when that complicates product decisions. I joined in August and spent my first months listening, learning, and pressure-testing assumptions before speaking publicly. Koru Strategy Group will continue in a limited, client-serving capacity, honoring existing strategic consulting commitments, clearly distinct from my role at SchoolAI. I’m grateful to work alongside Caleb Hicks and Nate Sanders and to be part of a team willing to invest at this stage in taking responsibility for doing this work carefully and well. Ready to do the work.

We often talk about AI doing the work for students. But what happens when we design it to make them think harder? I’ve been working alongside teachers at The Elisabeth Morrow School since August- to move beyond the "wow factor" of AI. We are using tools like SchoolAI for intentional, 5-10 minute bursts designed to make students pause, reflect, and interact with their own learning. But here is the reality check: You cannot just hand a student a chatbot and expect critical thinking. Through analyzing student responses and constantly iterating, we realized that students need specific protocols to navigate these "Spaces." They need to know when to stay digital, when to go to paper, and most importantly, how to advocate for their own ideas against an algorithm. Here are the 5 Core Protocols/Recommendations we are implementing to move from "using AI" to "thinking with AI": 1. Pre-teach the "Why" We don't just drop students into a Space. We demo it first. We explicitly explain that the AI will ask questions on purpose to challenge their thinking. If a student feels stuck, they need to know it's okay to say, "This question isn't helpful," or "Can we focus on this other part?" 2. Normalize Pushing Back We are teaching students that the AI is not an authority figure. It is a tool. We explicitly teach phrases to help them regain control of the conversation: "That is not what I am asking. I want to talk about friendship." "Please explain that in a simpler way." Advocacy is a digital literacy skill. 3. Reframe the Role: Partner, Not Answer Key Students are conditioned to look for the "right answer." We have to continually remind them that if the Space doesn't give them an answer, it’s not because they are failing, it’s because they are exploring. The goal is to refine their ideas, not complete a transaction. 4. Transcripts are Evidence of Learning The chat isn't ephemeral; it's a draft of their thought process. We have students review their history to find: - Where their thinking shifted. - Where they clarified a theme statement. - Where they had to argue their point to be understood. 5. Co-manage Emotional Depth When we use texts with heavy themes, the teacher’s presence is non-negotiable. We use intense moments in the chat to reiterate that some topics are best processed with humans. The classroom remains the safe space; the AI is just a sounding board. And we don't use Spaces for time periods and people that could be very triggering. The bottom line: Deep, intentional AI work takes time. It is not plug and play. It is not a shortcut. It looks like sitting with transcripts, spotting patterns in student thinking, and asking: Where did AI truly help a learner grapple with an idea? Where would paper have been better? Where is a blend the right move? If we want AI to elevate learning instead of eroding it, this is the level of design and reflection that will be required. Marek Beck, PhD #EdTech #AIinEducation #DeepLearning #Education

This week, I’m doing what I believe every leader in education - who is leading this AI revolution MUST be doing. I’m sitting with students The Elisabeth Morrow School as they interact with AI. I’m standing beside teachers as we unpack deeply what’s happening in those chats from SchoolAI. We’re asking together: ✅ What worked? ✅ What didn’t? ✅ Where did students lean in? ✅ Where did they shut down? We’re looking closely at student conversations with AI, noticing how quickly many want the tool to “just give the answer,” and how uncomfortable they become when it doesn’t. If we didn't have access to the chats we wouldn't be able to really unpack the learning happening and where we need to go next. That discomfort is exactly where the learning lives. So we’re building intentional protocols for introducing AI to students: 👉 How we frame AI as a thinking partner, not an answer machine 👉 How we scaffold prompts and reflection 👉 How we help students own the learning instead of outsourcing it This is the work that has to happen if AI is going to deepen learning rather than shortcut it. We are making sure the AI policy is not designed from a perch or a conference room, but co-created inside real classrooms, as a village and a community of learners. If you’re leading AI work for a school, district, or organization, this is my challenge to you: don’t just write the strategy—go sit beside the people living it. This isn't a one day PD this is a thoughtful unpacking of how we do this right. And when you have Samantha Morra as your partner at the school, the world is your oyster. Please notice some are using the help and others are not...and this is the way it should look!