Much has been made of the use of artificial intelligence in schools. Often the story is about students generating work with something like ChatGPT and schools trying to put reasonable guardrails in place.
But Houston ISD made an announcement this week that turns that narrative on its head. The district will launch nine “artificial intelligence-focused” schools for the next school year.
Nusaiba Mizan, who reports on education for the Houston Chronicle, said details are starting to emerge about how this shift will impact students next year.
“Essentially, the district announced that it would be shifting the curriculum… In light of the emergence of AI, for a future with AI where it will be ‘ubiquitous,’” she said. “So core subjects will be taught in the morning for the first four hours a day. And then it is shifted to what the district is calling hands-on experiences and workshops in the afternoon. And that would be skills, what they’re calling ‘human-centric skills’ for the afternoon that would prepare students for skills that would not be taken by AI, so to speak.”
In making this move, the district cited a McKinsey & Company study from the management consultant group about the reduction of jobs. Mizan said more specifically the study is about a reduction in U.S. work hours because of artificial intelligence.
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These “Future 2 schools” will be open longer hours and plan to serve students three meals a day at no cost. But Mizan said if parents don’t want their kids on an AI-focused campus, they can switch schools.
“I’m watching how this looks day-to-day for families, and I’m matching what it will look like for the course subject areas,” she said. “We’ve heard AI-driven platforms (will be used for) some coursework. And so we’re trying to get a sense of what this looks like. To what extent will students be interacting with AI? Some of this will have AI literacy and learning how to write prompts into AI. But what will this really mean for students, especially since AI in the classroom is so new?”
Mizan said many families are still waiting for more information.
“It’s probably important to note for the listener, there are a lot of announcements coming out of the district right now,” she said. “So there’s a lot to watch for schools and new school models, new school managers, et cetera.”
Mizan said to her knowledge there is no precedent for this AI-focused plan.
“However, it should be noted that this is considered an iteration or building off of reforms already rolled out by state-appointed superintendent Mike Miles,” she said. “The instructional model, and the basis for these schools is still going to build off of what has already been rolled out in HISD.”
