Members of the Kansas State Board of Education heard several presentations this week during their February meeting, focused on artificial intelligence (AI) in education and the impact of students using personal and school-issued technology. 

Drs. James Basham and Trey Vasquez of the Center for Innovation, Design and Digital Learning (CIDDL), at the University of Kansas, presented the “Framework for Responsible AI Integration in Pre-K-20 Education.” The framework covers several overarching tasks to responsibly integrate AI in Pre-K-20 education. Those tasks include establishing a stable, human-centered foundation, ensuring AI educational opportunities for every student and conducting ongoing evaluation and professional learning for educators.  

Basham and Vasquez said while there are data and privacy concerns for students, the fairness and transparency regarding students’ use of AI can be accomplished with the following: 

• Data Privacy and Security: AI collects sensitive student data. Follow FERPA for privacy compliance. 
• Bias and Fairness: AI can reflect biases, potentially leading to unfair treatment of students with disabilities or from marginalized groups. 
• Ensuring Access: Ensure AI tools are accessible to all students, supporting diverse needs. 
• Transparency and Explainability: Use AI tools that make decision-making clear, enabling informed use. 
• Maintaining Professional Judgment: AI should aid, not replace, your judgment; human oversight is essential. 
• Avoiding Misinformation: Ensure AI-generated materials are accurate and aligned with learning goals. 

Basham and Vasquez acknowledged the larger public is fearful of AI and that those concerns are valid and should be “brought to the table.” He encouraged districts to be proactive and talk with their school community about the responsible use of AI. He reiterated AI fluency goes beyond literacy and “the teacher is still the heart in the classroom.” 

Board members also heard a presentation on the results from a KSDE-conducted survey regarding e student use of district-owned devices in Kansas districts. 

Several recommendations for the use of district-owned devices fall under the following categories: 

• Instructional use 
• Developmental appropriateness 
• Student safety and appropriate use 
• Digital literacy  
• Transparency and communication with families 
• Local implementation – Districts are encouraged to do the following: 
  • Regularly review their technology use practices. 
  • Seek input from educators, families, and students. 
  • Adjust local policies as research, technology and community needs evolve. 

Board members heard other student technology-related presentations during their February meeting.  

Inge Esping, principal at McPherson Middle School, McPherson USD 418, reported on the positive impacts of her school’s initiative to keep Chromebooks at school rather than sending them home with students. Casey Seyfert, principal of Beloit Jr./Sr. High School, Beloit USD 273, discussed how the district’s bell-to-bell cell phone ban has improved discipline issues, increased more personal social interactions and enabled teachers to move faster and deeper into their instructional content because of reduced distractions. Susan Dunaway, a licensed clinical professional counselor (LCPC), presented information on the effects technology devices have on a student’s development. 

Additional presentations during the board’s February meeting included the following: 

• Ryan Kurtenbach, director of KSDE’s information technology team, outlined the lack of cybersecurity funding on the district level. 
• The KSDE early childhood team, along with Parents as Teachers (PAT) representatives Nichole Fairley, of Topeka USD 501, and Amanda McGuire, of Beloit USD 273, presented information about how the Kansas Parents as Teachers (PAT) program supports early literacy.  
• Dr. Jay Scott, director of the KSDE accreditation and design team, presented information about the Kansas Education System Accreditation (KESA) cohort of the six special purpose schools: 1) Kansas School for the Blind, in Kansas City, Kansas; 2) Kansas School for the Deaf, in Olathe, 3) Heartspring School, in Wichita; 4) Parsons State Hospital School, in Parsons; 5) Lakemary Center, in Paola; and 6) Lawrence Gardner High School (within the state’s juvenile detention center), in Topeka. 
• Kim Wahaus, a history teacher at Olathe South High School, Olathe USD 233, had board members participate in an AI activity related to the Declaration of Independence. 
• Tanner Helton, a physical education teacher in Geary County USD 475, and Claire Clifford, a music teacher in Halstead USD 440, presented how they are using their structured literacy training with their students. 
• Representatives of Hazard Young Attea Associates updated the State Board on their national search for the next Kansas education commissioner. They said they will be presenting a slate of candidates on March 3, which the State Board will choose from for first-round interviews on March 11 and 12. The board’s announcement of the new commissioner is still anticipated during the State Board’s meeting, April 14-15. 
• Spring Hill USD 230’s Thespian Troupe 7730 gave a presentation on the elements of scenic design along with duet acting and solo musical theatre performances. 
• Tracy Thomas presented a painting of a rural Kansas farmstead to the State Board and KSDE that his late grandfather, Dr. F. Floyd Herr, the former KSDE assistant commissioner for teacher certification and accreditation, owned. The painting was created by Robert Hodgell, a native Kansan and apprentice to the renowned Kansas artist, John Steuart Curry, well known for his mural of John Brown in the Kansas Statehouse rotunda.   

The State Board will meet March 3, in the first floor board room in the Landon State Office Building, 900 S.W. Jackson, in Topeka. This will be an executive session for board members to receive the slate of candidates for the next education commissioner.