Will AI reinforce existing models of schooling, or will it help us build learning environments that center purpose, relationships, and real-world contributions? This is the question that our inaugural cohort of Think Forward AI Fellows explore in this compendium.
Conversations about AI often center on details like tools and workflows rather than major concerns like ends and purpose. That makes it easy to treat AI as a feature set to be adopted, tweaked, and scaled instead of an accelerant for deeper systems change. These vision statements push back against that assumption and instead ask: What should schooling protect when intelligence becomes ubiquitous? What are the skills that only humans can have, and how should schooling develop them? How do we measure success when speed and output are no longer sufficient proxies for learning?
Our Fellows consistently position AI as a tool to amplify, not replace, human relationships and judgment. They emphasize the importance of coherence across classroom practice, system design, and policy. They underscore equity, purpose, and strong learning experiences as essential and intentional design choices, not afterthoughts. CRPE’s white paper, Think Forward: Building a Coherent Approach to AI in Education, further explores each of these ideas through its guiding principles for future-ready schooling.
We invite you to read these statements as provocations, not prescriptions. We hope they help clarify what matters most and inspire you to develop a vision for how AI can support meaningful learning in your particular context. If you do, we encourage you to share your reflections with CRPE. We would welcome the opportunity to learn from your work.
View the full compendium using the button below, or scroll to explore individual essays.
Dacia Toll argues that students will need a combination of strong foundational knowledge, distinctly human skills, and the ability to use AI effectively. She outlines a coherent school model that integrates academic mastery, collaborative learning, and real-world application, with AI used to support deep learning.
Exponential Human Purpose: A Model for the Future of AI in Education
Quality Over Quantity: Building Coherent AI for Reading and Math
Mike Taubman centers student experience and proposes an “AI Driver’s License” framework to guide thoughtful, responsible AI use. His model integrates reflection, purpose development, and real-world application, positioning AI as a tool students learn to direct rather than depend on.
An AI Driver’s License for the Next Generation
Ila Deshmukh Towery argues that decisions about AI in education must begin with a clear understanding of human purpose, relationships, and trust. She underscores the limits of automation, emphasizing that core elements of learning—care, judgment, and responsibility—must remain human-led.
Starting with What It Means to Be Human
D’Andre Weaver, PhD, centers Powerful Learning as the foundation for AI integration. He argues that coherent systems should use AI to deepen these elements, reinforcing meaningful learning experiences rather than prioritizing efficiency or output.
Designing Coherent, AI-Powered Systems for Powerful Learning
Adam Garry positions AI as a tool to support teaching and learning, particularly in enabling performance-based assessment and meaningful personalization. He emphasizes that technology can strengthen instructional design and reduce administrative burden, but cannot replace the role of educators.
AI in Education: A Support, Not a Substitute
Scott Bess describes how AI can support a shift to competency-based high schools, where students progress based on demonstrated mastery. He highlights the potential for AI to coordinate flexible pathways, including internships and real-world learning, while maintaining alignment with academic standards.
Designing High Schools for Mastery, Not Minutes
Sunanna Chand draws on lessons from the Reinvention Lab’s FutureShock model, where AI is used briefly to help students surface interests and launch real-world projects, then intentionally steps back. She argues that this kind of strategic, time-bound use of AI can support learner-centered education while preserving human relationships, student agency, and deeper learning.
Strategic AI Integration: Keeping Humans at the Center
Thank you to our funders, the Bezos Family Foundation, the Gates Foundation, and the Cinelli Family Foundation, for making this work possible.
