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Malaysian Reserve
23-07-2025
- Business
- Malaysian Reserve
Cambiar Thrive's "Big Ideas Challenge" Aims to Fuel Student Success by Closing the Education Information Gap for Students and Families
New Funding Opportunity Seeks Catalytic Solutions to Address Data Demand SAN DIEGO, July 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Cambiar Education, with support from the Walton Family Foundation, Bezos Family Foundation, and Lemnis, today announced the launch of the Thrive Big Ideas Challenge, a national competition designed to catalyze transformative solutions that empower students and caregivers with data to fuel student success. By collectively addressing the critical need for more – and actionable – information sharing with students and caregivers, the Thrive Challenge aims to profoundly boost student learning, ultimately giving them the agency to support their lifelong growth and shape their futures. The Thrive Challenge will award $100,000 grants, with a subset of grantees eligible for $250,000+ of follow-on funding, to organizations with groundbreaking ideas on how to provide students and/or caregivers with easy-to-obtain, meaningful, and actionable information about their student's K-12 education and development. This funding opportunity focuses on two distinct tracks: Student Track: Grantees that equip students with greater insight into their own data and ways students can use it to take action and make Track: Grantees that equip parents and caregivers with innovative and scalable tools to better understand and support their children's learning journeys. To learn more and submit a big idea for consideration, visit Cambiar Thrive's application portal. Applications will be accepted through August 31, 2025. As technology advances and social isolation increases, demand for student data is growing. Recent reports indicate a troubling decline in youth engagement in the classroom.1 'Student agency – the ability to make choices about one's learning and take an active role in shaping educational experiences – is a critical component of engagement in learning. Yet, many students feel like they have no control over their learning.'2 Arming students with their own data will initiate ways for them to take ownership of their learning, advancing the development of their agency and ability to thrive. Motivated to go beyond report cards and teacher conferences, parents and caregivers are actively seeking more data when it comes to their children's academic and non-academic experiences.3 'Parents can only act on what they know,' explains Bibb Hubbard, Founder and CEO of Learning Heroes, a Thrive grantee focused on strengthening relationships between parents and educators to improve student success. 'Until parents have access to more than report card grades to measure their child's progress, they may not have a complete picture of how their child is achieving and may be stymied from taking the actions best suited for their child's specific learning needs.' 'We believe that when data is accessible, well-understood, and actively used, it becomes a powerful tool for driving student achievement and fostering meaningful family engagement,' said Christina Heitz, Founder and CEO of Cambiar Education. 'The Thrive Big Ideas Challenge is a call to action for innovators to bridge the student information gap by blending digital and human approaches, and create a driving force that helps unlock the power of every learner.' The Thrive Challenge supports Cambiar Education's broader commitment to changing the way K-12 education data works for students and caregivers and builds on the insights and momentum from Cambiar Thrive's previous cohort, which focused on improved data sharing specifically with parents and caregivers. These Thrive grantees, for example, are making significant progress in engaging parents and caregivers with student data to improve student outcomes: Thrive grantee Paloma Learning has made significant strides in engaging caregivers as teaching partners for their children, unlocking a world of instructional time that otherwise lays dormant. A recent study found that families using Paloma helped their children make 41% more reading growth and 39% more growth in math than a matched control group. Multilingual learners nearly doubled their progress. Thrive funding helped TalkingPoints add to their suite of evidence that their platform decreases absenteeism, with the most significant impact on under-resourced students and the families serving them. A recent study with their partners at Tulsa Public Schools showed a decrease of 24% in absenteeism rates using TalkingPoints. Rock by Rock provides a library of project-based learning experiences that sit at the intersection of academic skills, life habits, and student sense of purpose and belonging and is building out a platform that supports parents and microschool founders to measure holistic learning and increase family communication. As a result of their pilot, the assessment framework was rated 10 out of 10 by caregivers, and 90% of educators would recommend their development of the Academic Dashboard. NACA Inspired Schools Network (NISN) is a national organization focused on transforming Indigenous education by creating a network of schools that integrate cultural relevance with academic rigor. As part of its movement to create excellent schools relevant to the communities they serve, they piloted a community-led assessment that engaged families, students, and school staff in a data-driven process to identify measurable school outcomes. This assessment process will ultimately be used across all NISN schools to improve graduate capstones and guide teacher inquiry. NISN schools report graduation rates 5%-18% above the State Native American baseline. Thrive grantee Families in Action is igniting parent confidence and reading at home through 'Lit for Literacy,' a family-led partnership. In 2024, 88% of students whose parents became Family Literacy Champions through Lit for Literacy made 30-100 points of literacy gain in one year. The Thrive Challenge seeks applicants whose big ideas are designed to improve student outcomes and collect evidence to show if students see gains – academic or otherwise – when they and/or caregivers are more engaged. The ability to track and assess quantitative and qualitative results and how students and/or caregivers are taking action as a result of the solution is a key component for the Thrive Challenge. Insight into how and and why the solution is used and what needs improvement enables productive and ongoing feedback loops, making the solutions more effective throughout the grant – and beyond. Successful proposals will: Demonstrate potential for innovative, systemic change in school communities. Offer sustainable and scalable solutions that are fresh, practical, and grounded in community needs. Articulate how a solution supports all students and/or caregivers to understand and act on student data. Focus on improving student outcomes through student and/or caregiver data engagement. MEDIA CONTACT Carla Punsalan McLoughlincarla@ 1 Gallup. (2024, May 13). Schools struggle to engage Gen Z students. Retrieved from James, M. P., & Frome, H. (2025, June 3). How student agency can boost engagement and readiness. Gallup. Felton, M. (2022, February 22). Parents are getting access to student data, but how can we support them to use it? Data Quality Campaign. About Cambiar EducationCambiar Education is a nonprofit K-12 venture studio built to change the marketplace for education innovation to prove undeniably that every student can succeed and thrive. It propels groundbreaking ventures charting the future of education led by founders with unshakeable optimism and courage. Cambiar cultivates a community of over 100 connected ventures, operating at the speed of innovation to make an impact and anchored in a commitment to creating solutions for our most vulnerable youth. About the Walton Family FoundationThe Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. Three generations of the descendants of our founders, Sam and Helen Walton, and their spouses work together to lead the foundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas: improving education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support and investing in our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. To learn more, visit and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and X. About the Bezos Family FoundationThe Bezos Family Foundation is a private foundation created by Mike and Jackie Bezos and their family. Since 2000, the Foundation has partnered with remarkable organizations and individuals to transform how we prepare young people from prenatal to young adulthood to pursue their own path for success and meaningfully contribute to society. In addition to grantmaking, the Foundation runs two in-house programs: Bezos Scholars Program and Vroom. About LemnisLemnis is a public charity dedicated to expanding learning for all. Our vision is to create a future of the Unlimited Learner, where every young person can thrive in a time of dramatic change. Lemnis, whose name is inspired by the lemniscate (∞), believes that to unlock limitless possibilities for learners, we must create a sense of belonging and community, apply findings from neuroscience of learning and social sciences, leverage pro-social artificial intelligence and digital technology, and generate new ecosystems and supports that are learner centered. Lemnis invests in and partners with organizations that advance these beliefs by creating authentic and relevant connections between learning and opportunity, supporting learners holistically, and expanding how we define and measure learner success. For more information, visit
Forbes
30-06-2025
- Forbes
Employees: AI Is Giving Us Hours Back Every Week
Getting an AI boost There is no shortage of debate about the implications of artificial intelligence on productivity, with many suggestions that it is still elusive. Plus, there is the constant underlying dread reported among workers that AI is conducting a hostile takeover of their jobs. However, in study after study, when when asking affected workers themselves, a different picture emerges. They seem to like AI. Ethan Mollick, associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, drives this point home in a recent LinkedIn post: 'The repeated argument that I see online that AI is not actually useful to real people needs to be retired, based on the representative national surveys we now have on real AI users. The idea that most people are not seeing gains from AI is just not matching what they are reporting in surveys – or what we find in experiments." Two recent studies cited by Mollick point to productivity gains, higher quality work, and yes, greater job satisfaction with the use of AI. For starters, teachers have something to teach us about AI and productivity. Those using AI report a time savings of at least six hours a week. The survey of 2,000 teachers in grades K through 12, conducted by Gallup and underwritten by the Walton Family Foundation, shows six in 10 have used an AI tool for their work this school year, with heavier use among high school (66%) and early-career teachers (69%). Teachers who use AI weekly save 5.9 hours per week, the study shows. That's the equivalent of six weeks per school year. Currently, about three in 10 teachers are using AI at least weekly, with more frequent users experiencing greater time savings A separate survey of 4,278 U.S. workers, conducted by researchers from Stanford, George Mason, and Clemson Universities, finds workers using AI report a three-fold productivity gains on many tasks. LLM adoption among employees has increased rapidly, the researchers found – from 30.1% as of December 2024, to 43.2% as of March and April 2025. The research team cites the use of ChatGPT and Generative AI behind the rapid increase. Among those who use genAI, about one third say they use it daily. On average, workers spend about 30 minutes working with a genAI tool per task. They estimate it takes about 90 minutes to manually complete such tasks – meaning they save at least one hour of time per task. This would be a tripling of the productivity of the workers if all tasks can be completed with the use of genAI, the researcher estimate. AI has a positive impact on the quality of work as well, the Gallup teachers' study shows. Most teachers, 64%, report higher quality in the modifications they make to student materials. Another 61% say they generate higher-quality insights about student learning or achievement data. A majority, 57%, say AI improves the quality of their grading and student feedback. 'Teachers who use AI are more likely to be optimistic about the impacts of AI on student outcomes,' the report states. Close to half, 48%, think AI will increase student engagement, compared with 25% of non-users.
Indian Express
26-06-2025
- Science
- Indian Express
How ChatGPT and other AI tools are changing the teaching profession
For her 6th grade honors class, math teacher Ana Sepúlveda wanted to make geometry fun. She figured her students 'who live and breathe soccer' would be interested to learn how mathematical concepts apply to the sport. She asked ChatGPT for help. Within seconds, the chatbot delivered a five-page lesson plan, even offering a theme: 'Geometry is everywhere in soccer — on the field, in the ball, and even in the design of stadiums!' It explained the place of shapes and angles on a soccer field. It suggested classroom conversation starters: Why are those shapes important to the game? It proposed a project for students to design their own soccer field or stadium using rulers and protractors. 'Using AI has been a game changer for me,' said Sepúlveda, who teaches at a dual language school in Dallas and has ChatGPT translate everything into Spanish. 'It's helping me with lesson planning, communicating with parents and increasing student engagement.' Across the country, artificial intelligence tools are changing the teaching profession as educators use them to help write quizzes and worksheets, design lessons, assist with grading and reduce paperwork. By freeing up their time, many say the technology has made them better at their jobs. A poll released Wednesday by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation found 6 in 10 U.S. teachers working in K-12 public schools used AI tools for their work over the past school year, with heavier use among high school educators and early-career teachers. It surveyed more than 2,000 teachers nationwide in April. Respondents who use AI tools weekly estimate they save them about six hours a week, suggesting the technology could help alleviate teacher burnout, said Gallup research consultant Andrea Malek Ash, who authored the report. States are issuing guidelines for using AI tools in classrooms. As schools navigate concerns over student abuse of the technology, some are also are introducing guidelines and training for educators so teachers are aware of avoiding shortcuts that shortchange students. About two dozen states have state-level AI guidance for schools, but the extent to which it is applied by schools and teachers is uneven, says Maya Israel, an associate professor of educational technology and computer science education at the University of Florida. 'We want to make sure that AI isn't replacing the judgment of a teacher,' Israel said. If teachers are using chatbots for grading they should be aware the tools are good for 'low-level' grading like multiple choice tests but less effective when nuance is required. There should be a way for students to alert teachers if the grading is too harsh or inconsistent, and the final grading decision needs to remain with the educator, she 8 in 10 teachers who use AI tools say it saves them time on work tasks like making worksheets, assessments, quizzes or on administrative work. And about 6 in 10 teachers who use AI tools said they are improving the quality of their work when it comes to modifying student materials, or giving student feedback. 'AI has transformed how I teach. It's also transformed my weekends and given me a better work-life balance,' said Mary McCarthy, a high school social studies teacher in the Houston area who has used AI tools for help with lesson plans and other said training she received from her school district on AI tools has helped her model proper use for her students. 'If I'm on the soapbox of, 'AI is bad and kids are going to get dumb,' well yeah if we don't teach them how to use the tool,' said McCarthy. 'It feels like my responsibility as the adult in the room to help them figure out how to navigate this future.'Teachers say the technology is best used sparingly Views on the role of artificial intelligence in education have shifted dramatically since ChatGPT launched in late 2022. Schools around the country initially banned it, but since then many have sought ways to incorporate it into classrooms. Concerns about student overuse and misuse are still prevalent: About half of teachers worry that student use of AI will decrease teens' ability to think critically and independently or to have persistence when problem solving, according to the study. One benefit teachers see in becoming more familiar with artificial intelligence is the ability to spot when students are overusing it. Clues that assignments are written by AI tools include an absence of grammatical errors and complex phrases in writing, said Colorado high school English teacher Darren Barkett. He said he relies on ChatGPT himself to create lesson plans and grade multiple choice tests and essays. In suburban Chicago, middle school art teacher Lindsay Johnson said she uses only AI programs vetted by her school and deemed safe to use with minors, for data privacy and other concerns. To ensure students feel confident in their skills, she said she brings the technology in only for later stages of projects. For her 8th graders' final assessment, Johnson asked them to make a portrait of an influential person in their lives. After students put final touches on their subject's face, Johnson introduced generative AI for those who wanted help designing the background. She used an AI tool within Canva, after checking with her district's IT department that the design software passed its privacy screener.'As an art teacher my goal is to let them know the different tools that are out there and to teach them how those tools work,' she said. Some students weren't interested in the help. 'Half the class said, 'I've got a vision, and am going to keep going with it.''
The Star
26-06-2025
- Science
- The Star
How ChatGPT and other AI tools are changing the teaching profession
For her sixth grade honors class, math teacher Ana Sepúlveda wanted to make geometry fun. She figured her students "who live and breathe soccer' would be interested to learn how mathematical concepts apply to the sport. She asked ChatGPT for help. Within seconds, the chatbot delivered a five-page lesson plan, even offering a theme: "Geometry is everywhere in soccer – on the field, in the ball, and even in the design of stadiums!' It explained the place of shapes and angles on a soccer field. It suggested classroom conversation starters: Why are those shapes important to the game? It proposed a project for students to design their own soccer field or stadium using rulers and protractors. "Using AI has been a game changer for me,' said Sepúlveda, who teaches at a dual language school in Dallas and has ChatGPT translate everything into Spanish. "It's helping me with lesson planning, communicating with parents and increasing student engagement.' Across the US, artificial intelligence tools are changing the teaching profession as educators use them to help write quizzes and worksheets, design lessons, assist with grading and reduce paperwork. By freeing up their time, many say the technology has made them better at their jobs. A poll released June 25 by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation found six in 10 US teachers working in K-12 public schools used AI tools for their work over the past school year, with heavier use among high school educators and early-career teachers. It surveyed more than 2,000 teachers nationwide in April. Respondents who use AI tools weekly estimate they save them about six hours a week, suggesting the technology could help alleviate teacher burnout, said Gallup research consultant Andrea Malek Ash, who authored the report. States are issuing guidelines for using AI tools in classrooms As schools navigate concerns over student abuse of the technology, some are also are introducing guidelines and training for educators so teachers are aware of avoiding shortcuts that shortchange students. About two dozen states have state-level AI guidance for schools, but the extent to which it is applied by schools and teachers is uneven, says Maya Israel, an associate professor of educational technology and computer science education at the University of Florida. "We want to make sure that AI isn't replacing the judgment of a teacher,' Israel said. If teachers are using chatbots for grading they should be aware the tools are good for "low-level' grading like multiple choice tests but less effective when nuance is required. There should be a way for students to alert teachers if the grading is too harsh or inconsistent, and the final grading decision needs to remain with the educator, she said. About 8 in 10 teachers who use AI tools say it saves them time on work tasks like making worksheets, assessments, quizzes or on administrative work. And about six in 10 teachers who use AI tools said they are improving the quality of their work when it comes to modifying student materials, or giving student feedback. "AI has transformed how I teach. It's also transformed my weekends and given me a better work-life balance,' said Mary McCarthy, a high school social studies teacher in the Houston area who has used AI tools for help with lesson plans and other tasks. McCarthy said training she received from her school district on AI tools has helped her model proper use for her students. "If I'm on the soapbox of, 'AI is bad and kids are going to get dumb,' well yeah if we don't teach them how to use the tool,' said McCarthy. "It feels like my responsibility as the adult in the room to help them figure out how to navigate this future.' Teachers say the technology is best used sparingly Views on the role of artificial intelligence in education have shifted dramatically since ChatGPT launched in late 2022. Schools around the country initially banned it, but since then many have sought ways to incorporate it into classrooms. Concerns about student overuse and misuse are still prevalent: About half of teachers worry that student use of AI will decrease teens' ability to think critically and independently or to have persistence when problem solving, according to the study. One benefit teachers see in becoming more familiar with artificial intelligence is the ability to spot when students are overusing it. Clues that assignments are written by AI tools include an absence of grammatical errors and complex phrases in writing, said Colorado high school English teacher Darren Barkett. He said he relies on ChatGPT himself to create lesson plans and grade multiple choice tests and essays. In suburban Chicago, middle school art teacher Lindsay Johnson said she uses only AI programs vetted by her school and deemed safe to use with minors, for data privacy and other concerns. To ensure students feel confident in their skills, she said she brings the technology in only for later stages of projects. For her 8th graders' final assessment, Johnson asked them to make a portrait of an influential person in their lives. After students put final touches on their subject's face, Johnson introduced generative AI for those who wanted help designing the background. She used an AI tool within Canva, after checking with her district's IT department that the design software passed its privacy screener. "As an art teacher my goal is to let them know the different tools that are out there and to teach them how those tools work,' she said. Some students weren't interested in the help. "Half the class said, 'I've got a vision, and am going to keep going with it.'' – AP
Time of India
26-06-2025
- Science
- Time of India
How ChatGPT and other AI tools are changing the teaching profession
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills For her 6th grade honors class, math teacher Ana Sepulveda wanted to make geometry fun. She figured her students "who live and breathe soccer" would be interested to learn how mathematical concepts apply to the sport. She asked ChatGPT for seconds, the chatbot delivered a five-page lesson plan, even offering a theme: "Geometry is everywhere in soccer - on the field, in the ball, and even in the design of stadiums!"It explained the place of shapes and angles on a soccer field. It suggested classroom conversation starters: Why are those shapes important to the game? It proposed a project for students to design their own soccer field or stadium using rulers and protractors."Using AI has been a game changer for me," said Sepulveda, who teaches at a dual language school in Dallas and has ChatGPT translate everything into Spanish. "It's helping me with lesson planning, communicating with parents and increasing student engagement."Across the country, artificial intelligence tools are changing the teaching profession as educators use them to help write quizzes and worksheets, design lessons, assist with grading and reduce paperwork. By freeing up their time, many say the technology has made them better at their jobs.A poll released Wednesday by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation found 6 in 10 U.S. teachers working in K-12 public schools used AI tools for their work over the past school year, with heavier use among high school educators and early-career teachers. It surveyed more than 2,000 teachers nationwide in who use AI tools weekly estimate they save them about six hours a week, suggesting the technology could help alleviate teacher burnout, said Gallup research consultant Andrea Malek Ash, who authored the are issuing guidelines for using AI tools in classrooms As schools navigate concerns over student abuse of the technology, some are also are introducing guidelines and training for educators so teachers are aware of avoiding shortcuts that shortchange two dozen states have state-level AI guidance for schools, but the extent to which it is applied by schools and teachers is uneven, says Maya Israel, an associate professor of educational technology and computer science education at the University of Florida."We want to make sure that AI isn't replacing the judgment of a teacher," Israel teachers are using chatbots for grading they should be aware the tools are good for "low-level" grading like multiple choice tests but less effective when nuance is required. There should be a way for students to alert teachers if the grading is too harsh or inconsistent, and the final grading decision needs to remain with the educator, she 8 in 10 teachers who use AI tools say it saves them time on work tasks like making worksheets, assessments, quizzes or on administrative work. And about 6 in 10 teachers who use AI tools said they are improving the quality of their work when it comes to modifying student materials, or giving student feedback."AI has transformed how I teach. It's also transformed my weekends and given me a better work-life balance," said Mary McCarthy, a high school social studies teacher in the Houston area who has used AI tools for help with lesson plans and other said training she received from her school district on AI tools has helped her model proper use for her students."If I'm on the soapbox of, 'AI is bad and kids are going to get dumb,' well yeah if we don't teach them how to use the tool," said McCarthy. "It feels like my responsibility as the adult in the room to help them figure out how to navigate this future."Teachers say the technology is best used sparingly Views on the role of artificial intelligence in education have shifted dramatically since ChatGPT launched in late 2022. Schools around the country initially banned it, but since then many have sought ways to incorporate it into classrooms. Concerns about student overuse and misuse are still prevalent: About half of teachers worry that student use of AI will decrease teens' ability to think critically and independently or to have persistence when problem solving, according to the benefit teachers see in becoming more familiar with artificial intelligence is the ability to spot when students are overusing that assignments are written by AI tools include an absence of grammatical errors and complex phrases in writing, said Colorado high school English teacher Darren Barkett. He said he relies on ChatGPT himself to create lesson plans and grade multiple choice tests and suburban Chicago, middle school art teacher Lindsay Johnson said she uses only AI programs vetted by her school and deemed safe to use with minors, for data privacy and other concerns. To ensure students feel confident in their skills, she said she brings the technology in only for later stages of her 8th graders' final assessment, Johnson asked them to make a portrait of an influential person in their lives. After students put final touches on their subject's face, Johnson introduced generative AI for those who wanted help designing the background. She used an AI tool within Canva, after checking with her district's IT department that the design software passed its privacy screener."As an art teacher my goal is to let them know the different tools that are out there and to teach them how those tools work," she said. Some students weren't interested in the help. "Half the class said, 'I've got a vision, and am going to keep going with it.'"
