{"id":93547,"topic":"ai","source":"EdSurge","title":"Can Schools Trust AI Features in Edtech Products? - EdSurge","url":"https://www.edsurge.com/news/can-schools-trust-ai-features-in-edtech-products","url_hash":"4d6cdd1272d4c20fe4500406edd0613db32af9b7","author":"","summary":"Can Schools Trust AI Features in Edtech Products? EdSurge","content":"Can Schools Trust AI Features in Edtech Products?\nIn this episode of This Week with EdSurge, two former educators join to discuss EdReport's recent brief and explain why it is so important to verify the efficacy of digital instructional tools.\nCredit: archideaphoto / Shutterstock\nCan Schools Trust AI Add-Ons?\nEdtech vendors are swiftly integrating AI features into new and existing instructional materials, often claiming that the features are educationally effective. EdReports, an independent nonprofit that reviews K-12 curriculum, recently went looking for the evidence behind those claims. 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Subscribe to the EdSurge newsletters for more news and analysis on education and technology.\nPopular on EdSurge\nNews","image_url":"https://images.ctfassets.net/eflsecw4kznd/7f4V9znplkfgt2f7tDqjTk/c6b8d31448acbb762469c252075b317b/shutterstock_195367244.jpg?w=1200","lang":"en","published_at":"2026-09-30T12:18:37+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-09-30T13:15:06+00:00","status":"read","starred":0,"extract_state":"ok","summary_auto":"In this episode of This Week with EdSurge, two former educators join to discuss EdReport's recent brief and explain why it is so important to verify the efficacy of digital instructional tools. 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Courtney Allison, the chief academic officer of EdReports, spent 15 years with the New York City Department of Education, including time as a middle school math teacher. She explains why the old line between core and supplemental materials is starting to disappear, and weighs in on AI tutors giving every student a different lesson. She also tackles whether it is fair to ask vendors for proof when generative AI has only been widely available for a few years.\nA Former Chancellor in the Buyer's Seat\nSomeone has to decide which AI products deserve a place in classrooms, and that responsibility often falls on districts. Dr. Lewis Ferebee joined EdReports as CEO this summer after becoming the longest serving chancellor in the history of DC Public Schools. He brings a district leader’s perspective to the question of who should be checking these products and who should pay for that work. 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