Schools are trying AI tools faster than researchers can establish what helps students. In a September 28 NPR report, Lee V. Gaines examines that gap through classroom experiments, including a social-emotional chatbot used in Dayton, Ohio.

Students at a Dayton alternative school offered advice to a chatbot named Jordan. Administrators hoped those conversations would help staff understand students’ experiences. The consultant evaluating the pilot supported further testing but said it was not ready for districtwide expansion. Measuring success remained a challenge.

The Pedagogy Over Panic Perspective

A tool can hold a student’s attention without demonstrating that it improves learning. Before expanding an AI pilot, schools should define the problem, the intended benefit, and how they will evaluate both progress and harm.

Who reviews students’ conversations? What do families understand about participation? What human support remains available? Those questions deserve answers before a pilot becomes routine.

Pedagogy over panic means making room for curiosity while keeping evidence, educator judgment, and student well-being at the center.

Read the NPR reporting by Lee V. Gaines · September 28, 2026.