Center for American Progress Panel Stresses Need for Equity in AI 

Dr Nicol Turner Lee of the Brookings Institution moderated a Center for American Progress (CAP) panel on October 29th titled Leveraging Technology To Equip K-12 Students for Success. Participants included Dr Punya Mishra, Arizona State University; Kevin Johnston, U.S. Department of Education (ED); and Dr. Jacqueline Rodriguez, National Center for Learning Disabilities. All stressed the need for equity in the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) in educational settings. Dr. Mishra began the discussion by explaining that AI not only sees patterns but generates new knowledge. In an online world that uses predominantly Western thought and the English language, bias is inherently built into its generative models. Kevin Johnston highlighted three main equity divides addressed in the National Education Technology Plan: the digital use divide about whether educators foster active or passive activities, the digital access divide for students with disabilities, and the digital design divide that considers whether teachers receive needed support to use the technology effectively. Dr. Jacqueline Rodriguez offered suggestions for policy improvements. Quoting a recent EdWeek survey, she pointed out that 70% of principals and school leaders are considering or are already using AI technologies in special education programs. Such potentially widespread use of AI requires attention to the civil rights of those students with disabilities. Vendors should have to provide robust data and centrally place students with disabilities at the very beginning of the creation or co-creation of the technology. They must also clearly state how their products benefit or do not benefit those students. Parents need to be better informed about student data monitoring and students with disabilities need to be included in the feedback loop so that there is a sense of improvement when it comes to technology development and application. In terms of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Rodriguez emphasized that accountability needs to reach beyond a checklist of compliance and ensure that all students benefit. 

Watch the panel discussion here.