PFLUGERVILLE, Texas — Pflugerville ISD is seeing improved reading skills in students using a new artificial intelligence (AI) program.
At Hidden Lake Elementary, students in Ms. Holland's fourth-grade class are working on their reading skills in a new way – by using an AI program called Amira Learning.
The program generates paragraphs in English or Spanish. As the student reads aloud, the program listens and intervenes in real time if the student makes a mistake. The district calls it a one-of-a-kind system and says it has been optional for Pflugerville elementary teachers since the 2022 school year.
Language Arts Coordinator Jenny Olsen said they can see a big difference in the reading levels of the students using it.
"Our data – our students that use Amira 30 minutes a week have a 30% reading growth over students that are not using it consistently," Olsen said. "Outpacing the Amira expectation for data growth."
The data shows fluency growth per grade level. The students using the program have surpassed the national average.
Teachers get the data in real-time, which Olsen said helps them adjust lessons and pair them in groups. The students get immediate grades as well, which 10-year-old Presley Thompson enjoys.
"I like it a lot," Thompson said.
Olsen said the fourth and fifth graders have seen the most improvement, which is great after the drawback of the pandemic.
"Because of the pandemic and the deficit, we are really filling in those gaps, which has been powerful," Olsen said.
Olsen said Pflugerville ISD started the program in 2022 thanks to a grant from Dell. The district started using it on 10 campuses but have now expanded to all 22 elementary schools.
Pflugerville ISD currently has 8,000 licenses, but it is looking for more grants to double that number in hopes of making it mandatory for all elementary students next year.