Constructive Use of AI for Educational Planning

Dear Friends,

This week’s evidence is about how teachers can make constructive use of AI to cut the amount of time they spend on instructional planning. This includes such tasks as instructional outlines, slides, discussion questions, and differentiating instruction by simplifying complex topics. As I’ve written before, it’s far from perfect and will not replace teachers, but it changes the role of teacher from lesson plan creator to quality control expert. I do fear that hurried teachers will simply cut and paste, but that is no better than being spoon-fed by publisher lesson plans, a process that, in my observation, most teachers despise. As long as we remember that we are the master and Chat GPT is the service, it might work – here’s the full article:  https://www.edutopia.org/article/6-ways-chatgpt-save-teachers-time/.

I can be reached at 781.710.9633 or douglas.reeves@creativeleadership.net, if you want to discuss this week’s research.

Best,

Doug

Related Posts

  • Research Wednesday | April 8, 2026

    Uncomplicated Grading Reform
    Contributing author: Dr. Emily Freeland

    It is not surprising that in schools and districts, significant grading reform efforts often stall. Not because educators disagree with the need to reconsider current practices, but because the work becomes burdensome and overly complicated. Issues and disagreements arise when monitoring checklists multiply in length; reporting systems grow more complex, and fairness and accuracy give way to compliance.

    Read More

  • Research Wednesday | March 11, 2026

    The Key to Secondary School Success: Getting 9th Grade Right
    Contributing author: Dr. Douglas Reeves

    Kaaron Andrews has studied the relationship between 9th-grade student performance, graduation, and subsequent post-secondary success.  She is the Director of the Center for High School Success. When they increase on-track 9th-grade rates, they are 3-4 times more likely to graduate from high school. It is the single strongest predictor of high school success – more than race, socioeconomic status, or even 8th-grade test scores. She contends that high schools are programmed for disconnection – disconnected from their peer group and from teachers who often have 150 students with whom they struggle to have a relationship.

    Read More

  • Research Wednesday | March 4, 2026

    Do Audiobooks Count as Reading?
    Contributing author: Dr. Douglas Reeves

    While surveys indicate that more than 40% of U.S. adults think that listening to a book should not be regarded as genuine reading, Brian Bannon, Chief Librarian of the New York Public Library, disagrees in a November 23, 2025, article.  He notes that while print circulation in the library has remained flat over the past five years, audiobook demand is up 65%.

    Read More