Educators can integrate AI into projects they already know work well. By adding an AI-powered layer, teachers can create richer learning opportunities, spark new insights, and extend student thinking beyond what was previously possible.
Generative AI tools like ChatGPT help students engage deeply in authentic problem-solving challenges by supporting research, ideation, and content creation. This strategy explores how students can use AI to empathize with real-world partners, brainstorm innovative solutions, and develop polished deliverables for industry-based projects.
Designing projects with real-world audiences gives students a meaningful reason to produce high-quality work. Whether developing a magazine, designing a campaign, or creating digital media, students learn to collaborate, manage workflows, and tailor their work to meet the needs of real-world applications. Generative AI can serve as a partner in this process by helping students generate ideas, draft and refine content, adapt to design constraints, and plan visuals. With thoughtful integration, AI allows students to focus on higher-order thinking and creativity while improving efficiency and the overall quality of their deliverables.
Teachers spend significant time creating lesson plans, presentations, practice problems, and other instructional materials to ensure lessons are rigorous and accessible. Generative AI can reduce this workload by producing high-quality instructional materials quickly, allowing educators to focus more energy on delivering instruction and supporting students directly.
AI tools like Google’s NotebookLM can help students break down dense academic content, organize evidence, and stay engaged in rigorous research assignments. This strategy explores how educators can use NotebookLM to provide multiple entry points to complex texts, promote peer collaboration, and support diverse learners. By thoughtfully integrating AI into reading and writing routines, teachers can increase student independence and improve academic outcomes without reducing cognitive rigor.
Scaling in dynamic conditions presents unique challenges. This strategy card provides a focused, mission-aligned approach to support purposeful growth amid uncertainty.
This strategy highlights how United Charter High School Humanities II developed and implemented a staff survey to understand how educators were currently using AI and what support they needed. The approach was later scaled across the seven-school United Charter High Schools network, with survey findings directly informing the development of AI policy and targeted professional learning.
By starting with stakeholder input and pairing policy with tailored supports, United Charter High School Humanities II created a clear, community-aligned approach to AI integration. Their work shows how schools can move from policy to practice by building role-specific guidance, supporting instructional shifts, and establishing feedback loops for continuous improvement.
Lynwood High School developed a custom AI chatbot to support multilingual learners in accessing academic content. Designed by teacher Jacqueline Oropeza, the English Language Support Assistant (ELSA) helps students summarize texts, define vocabulary, and generate study questions using class materials. This tool enables more equitable access to grade-level learning by building language skills and content understanding in tandem.
This strategy highlights how schools can lay the groundwork for effective, equity-driven AI integration by building on existing strengths in professional learning, data use, and continuous improvement. By rooting AI in instructional culture and aligning it to real student needs, schools can explore new tools with clarity, purpose, and long-term sustainability.
