Some people are understandably hesitant about using artificial intelligence (AI) in education out of concern that it could widen the digital divide or reinforce harmful biases. Yet, if these risks are properly mitigated, AI could actually advance opportunities for all students. Indeed, AI can be used to personalize instructional materials to meet the unique needs of individual students, make assessments adaptive, and increase accessibility for students with special needs. Federal investments are tapping into the potential of AI and supporting the development of education innovations like Learn with Socrates, Woot Math, and Active Learning at Scale. Each of these projects exemplifies the impact that AI can have on improving student outcomes.
Learn with Socrates started in Las Vegas, Nevada as Education Revolution, LLC. The program automatically generates individualized learning paths for students based on data collected as they engage with the program’s activities. These paths adjust based on each student’s abilities across a range of educational topics; the program makes activities more challenging to test the limits of students’ knowledge and less challenging if a student is struggling.
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​In 2018, the program received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant of $224,804 to develop its AI tutoring platform. With this SBIR funding, the Education Revolution team shared their product with more than 12,000 students to test its efficacy. They found that students who use the program for at least 20 minutes every day see an 18 to 34 percent improvement in their math and English Language Arts standardized test scores.
Learn with Socrates was supported by key funding from a National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research Phase I grant of $224,804 in 2018.​​​
Another program enhanced by federal investments is Woot Math, a web- and app-based algebra intervention. In 2014, Woot Math received an NSF Phase I SBIR grant of $150,000. The program used this funding to develop and test an app, “Woot Math,” that would harness formative assessment techniques to create adaptive learning environments. In 2015, the team received an NSF Phase II SBIR grant of $750,000 to fully develop, further test, and ultimately launch Woot Math as a web-based platform. This grant was used to fund a randomized treatment crossover trial, in which Woot Math was found to improve student performance by 10.9 percentiles on a fraction assessment after just 10 days of using the platform.
Woot Math received additional funding through an SBIR Phase I grant of $150,000 from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) in 2017. With this funding, the team developed a prototype of an assessment dashboard that generates information on students’ work in algebra class. The information is shared in real time with teachers so that they can create instructional material based on how students are progressing. The following year, Woot Math received an IES SBIR Phase II grant of $900,000 to fully develop the dashboard. The resulting program converts student work into data-driven insights that inform teacher instruction and student learning in middle and high school algebra classrooms.
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Woot Math received funding through two National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research grants:
a Phase I grant of $150,000 in 2014 and a Phase II grant of $750,000 in 2015.
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Woot Math was also supported by two Institute of Education Sciences Small Business Innovation Research grants:
a Phase I grant of $150,000 in 2017 and a Phase II grant of $900,000 in 2018.
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​Saga Education acquired Woot Math in 2020 and has incorporated Woot Math’s technology into its high-impact tutoring platform, reaching more than 75,000 students per year. In a randomized control trial conducted by the University of Chicago, Saga Education was found to boost learning in math by up to 2.5 years in one academic year and reduce math course failures by 63%. Most recently, Saga Education’s tutoring program was selected for the Maryland Partnership for Proven Programs. This partnership will provide funding for Saga Education to expand its programming to Baltimore City Public Schools this year and to additional districts across the state in the next four years.
Federal investments in AI learning tools are ongoing. IES’s 2024 Transformative Research in the Education Sciences Grants program is focusing its investments on innovative research that has the potential to start solving seemingly intractable challenges in education. The program’s focus for fiscal year 2024 is on “accelerating learning and reducing persistent education inequities by leveraging evidence-based principles from the learning sciences coupled with advanced technology to create high-reward, scalable technology solutions.” Each of the program’s three grantees has projects that are centered on using AI to create high-impact, scalable solutions. ​​
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Active Learning at Scale: Transforming Teaching and Learning via Large-Scale Learning Science and Generative AI received a $3,750,000 Institute of Education Sciences Transformative Research in the Education Sciences grant in 2024.
​​One of these projects, Active Learning at Scale: Transforming Teaching and Learning via Large-Scale Learning Science and Generative AI, is creating a flexible learning environment where postsecondary students can learn course content and practice their skills while on the go and in a variety of settings. The resulting platform harnesses large language models to generate interactive, research-informed, and engaging learning prompts that are accessible to students on their phones, laptops, or in the classroom. It then provides students with immediate adaptive feedback to enhance their learning.
AI has the potential to improve student outcomes if educators and learners are equipped with research-backed technologies and approaches. With AI advancing so rapidly, federal investments can support education research and development to identify the most effective ways to deploy AI in the classroom.
