Schools are racing to write AI policies, but what if the policy is not the first step? This week, we hear from Aleta Margolis, founder and president of the Center for Inspired Teaching, who argues that real progress starts with a conversation, not a rule. Then EdSurge editor-in-chief Sarah McKibben brings it home with what AI actually looks like at her kitchen table, with two middle schoolers navigating it in real time.

• A new RAND American Youth Panel survey found that only about one in three students say their school has a school-wide AI policy, and Aleta Margolis of the Center for Inspired Teaching explains why co-creating guidelines with students leads to better outcomes than top-down rule-making.
• A recent NPR and Ipsos poll found that 54 percent of teachers say AI is making it harder for students to learn critical thinking skills, and nearly three in four believe its impact on education will exceed that of the internet or computers.
• Sarah McKibben describes the mix of productive and concerning AI use she sees with her own children, including a student using an AI humanizer app to avoid plagiarism detection when submitting AI-written essays.
• Both guests converge on the idea of productive struggle: the concern is not AI itself but whether students are learning to think with it rather than bypassing the thinking entirely.

What to Do About AI: Begin by Talking About It by Aleta Margolis

NPR / Ipsos Poll: Teachers on AI and Critical Thinking

RAND American Youth Panel: Select Findings

ISTE+ASCD Live '26 in Orlando, Florida

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Hosted by Ira Apfel, Editorial Director, EdSurge

Featuring

Aleta Margolis, Founder and President, Center for Inspired Teaching

Sarah McKibben, Editor-in-Chief, EdSurge

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