Getting Smart Podcast Catching Up: Can AI Help Students Connect With People?
Oct 9, 2026
Can AI help students build real relationships rather than replace them? The conversation explores pro-social tools, warm introductions, learner profiles, and the motivation crisis AI makes harder to ignore. It also unpacks what PISA really measures, why microschool and Arizona ESA data demand caution, a proposed DARPA-style education R&D agency, and Alabama’s new public health sciences boarding school.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Education R&D Gets A Bipartisan Push
- The bipartisan NEED Act would create a DARPA-like education R&D center inside the Institute of Education Sciences.
- Nate McClennen argues that even a fraction of DARPA’s investment could transform education innovation.
Why Microschool Data Stays Fragmented
- Microschool research remains unreliable because schools self-select, resist data collection, and differ sharply in demographics and design.
- Stronger landscape-level evidence may require microschools embedded in accountable public systems.
Arizona ESAs Reveal A Demand Map
- Arizona’s ESAs served 102,981 students and distributed $1.1 billion annually, with most awards between $7,000 and $9,000.
- Broad categories such as supplemental materials limit accountability without quality and satisfaction data.
