DeKalb schools leverage AI to empower special education students, teachers

DeKALB – Artificial intelligence is making a name for itself in today’s world mainly for its personalizing, differentiating and self-improving nature. In the realm of special education, this is no exception.

AI already is being employed in DeKalb School District 428 and its special education services. This technology can be applied in a variety of ways, including writing emails and correcting grammar or preparing a rubric to follow.

As AI becomes more pervasive in today’s world, the onus is on the district’s administration to provide guidance to help steer its use among students and staff.

Lisa Davidson Becker, the district’s assistant director of student services, said DeKalb educators have embraced the charge of this task.

“What our role is in this department is putting together some guardrails for our special education staff to make sure that ... they’re able to use the technology for more equitable practices for our students with disabilities, but also understand some of the unique privacy concerns that we want to make sure that we’re ahead with our staff,” Becker said.

The district recently had an institute day during which Becker presented to staff on the topic of artificial intelligence and its use by special education teachers and students. That information then was presented to educational leaders during a statewide special education conference.

Becker said she believes her presentation in front of state special education leaders was well received.

“What we found is that we are really the leaders at this point in the state, especially when it comes to special education,” Becker said. “A lot of our colleagues across the state, in terms of special ed directors, really hadn’t put forth any sort of procedures or certainly hadn’t gotten in front of their staff on that. So we spoke to the importance of making sure that you are having these conversations with your staff now to make sure that you’re staying on the forefront, not just of the technology, but on the other side of protecting students’ privacy and rights.”

Also at the state conference, Becker said she heard from some educational leaders about a hesitancy to introduce AI to students because of a fear that students may cheat. But she said AI, if employed properly, may empower students rather than hinder their learning.

“There’s lots of things that we don’t want our kids to have access to, but if we get in the forefront of it and educate and teach them how [it is] a tool to empower their learning, that’s where we need to be as a school district and not shy away from it,” Becker said. “Us as educators really have to empower our parents, empower our students, empower ourselves to use this as a tool through that ethical and legal framework.”

The district’s special education staff and students first started using AI tools midyear, when the office of technology approved the use of Skill Struck Chat for Schools, officials said.

Becker acknowledged that not all special education students and their families were familiar with how to use AI let alone could identify when it’s been used at the onset.

“We have developed some special education and AI guidance for our district, and one of them is clear communication with our families,” Becker said. “If we’re using AI in any way, we should be having those discussions when we meet with families to discuss their student’s progress.”

Although the district remains in the early stages of integrating AI into special education services, Becker said she believes students and staff are uniquely positioned to be leaders in embracing AI.

She gave kudos to the district’s office of technology for its support over the years with various technology initiatives, such as the 1:1 initiative.

“Our teachers are really fluent with using technology to teach,” Becker said. “Our students are fluent in technology. Our teachers and students are uniquely positioned to take that next step.”