Tulsa Public Schools Uses Artificial Intelligence To Help Kids Read

Tulsa Public Schools students are using programs with artificial intelligence to improve their reading and help with test scores. Teachers say the technology is having a positive impact on students.

The State Department of Education is telling the TPS district they need to improve their reading scores in order to improve their accreditation status. Using AI is part of that effort.

Second graders at Anderson Elementary are getting help with reading from a teacher who's been in the classroom for 26 years. 

"So they're working on reading fluency, and some of them are on letters and sounds, some of them are on paragraphs," said 2nd grade teacher Dana Story.

Story isn't the only teacher there. She's getting help from artificial intelligence. AI tutor Amira guides kids through words and sentences, interacting with them in a way technology didn't when Mrs. Story was in school. 

"It listens to them read, and it records how many words per minute they're reading, and it works on their comprehension skills also," Story said. "When they read a word wrong, it will stop them from reading and go back and correct them."

TPS has been using this program since last year in an effort to improve reading scores. Anderson Principal Lajuanna Waddell says it's been a game changer.

"Technology has come a long way," she said. "We're far from the time of just putting students on to play games or just to listen; them being able to actually interact with the activities and rally helping with their growth has made it a better balance, I would say."

She says her school has struggled with reading scores in the past but thinks using programs like Amira can get them back up where she wants them to be.

"Our goal is that our kids walk out of here reading, so by third grade, our goal is for kids to be on level. I think that's setting our students up for success,” said Waddell.

Elementary students are in the middle of MAP testing right now. They’re hoping this program will have a positive impact on test scores.