Schools Test AI Tutors — With Teachers Firmly in Charge

In Room 214 at Lakeview Middle School, eighth graders work through algebra problems while an AI tutor offers hints, but never the answer. A student stuck on a two-step equation types a question. The tutor asks what she thinks the first step should be. She guesses, gets it partly right, and the tutor nudges her toward the rest. Across the room, her teacher watches the exchange on a dashboard and decides not to step in. The student solves the problem on her own.

The district is piloting the tool in 12 schools this fall. Teachers can see every conversation and turn the tutor off for tests. Those two rules, district officials say, were not negotiable. They are also why many teachers agreed to try it.

How the pilot works

The tutor is a chat window built into the district’s existing learning platform. Students in participating math classes can open it during class, during study hall or at home. It is designed to guide, not to solve. When a student pastes in a problem, the tutor asks questions, points out mistakes and offers examples with different numbers. It will not produce a finished answer, and it is limited to math topics.