Florida schools pilot AI tutoring across 30 campuses this fall

Pasco County, Florida, schools are piloting artificial intelligence programs across 30 campuses this fall to help teachers personalize education and analyze student performance data. The district is testing two AI platforms—Scholar Education for elementary schools and Khanmigo for middle and high schools—both offered free of charge to evaluate their effectiveness before potentially committing to paid services.

What you should know: The AI initiative aims to reduce teachers’ administrative workload while enhancing individualized instruction for students.

• Scholar Education, a state-funded startup, will provide elementary teachers with AI tools to analyze student performance data, identify learning gaps, and create personalized assignments based on student interests like baseball or ballet.
• Khanmigo, recently featured on 60 Minutes, focuses on AI tutoring for middle and high school students, guiding them toward deeper content understanding and skills mastery.
• A recent Gallup poll found teachers using AI regularly save about six hours of work weekly on tasks like writing quizzes and completing paperwork.

How it works: The AI systems integrate with existing educational technologies to provide data-driven insights and personalized learning experiences.

• Scholar Education’s platform connects to Florida’s academic standards and includes dozens of pre-built lessons, while also allowing teachers to create custom assignments.
• “The data analytics has been the most helpful for our teachers so far,” said Marlee Strawn, Scholar Education’s cofounder, explaining how the system identifies student question patterns and suggests targeted responses.
• Both platforms allow teachers to monitor student interactions and provide one-on-one support as needed, supplementing rather than replacing human instruction.

The big picture: This pilot represents a cautious approach to AI adoption in education, with district leaders prioritizing teacher choice and data privacy concerns.

• Deputy Superintendent Monica Ilse emphasized that “schools ultimately will decide how they want to use it,” with the district seeking feedback from teachers and leaders for future decisions.
• Scholar Education received a top rating from Common Sense, a nonprofit organization that evaluates educational technology, for student data privacy protection—addressing a common concern among parents and educators.
• Superintendent John Legg stressed that AI use would remain optional, stating he simply wanted to provide tools that might help teachers in their jobs.

What they’re saying: Educators express cautious optimism about AI’s potential to enhance rather than complicate their work.

• “If it works with some of our current systems, that’s an easier way to ease into it, so for teachers it doesn’t become one more thing that you have to do,” said Latoya Jordan, principal at Lacoochee Elementary.
• School board member Jessica Wright raised concerns about AI’s reliability in mathematics, though Strawn noted the system has proven helpful for providing real-life examples of math concepts.

Why this matters: The pilot could influence how Florida schools integrate AI technology while balancing innovation with educational effectiveness and data security concerns.