With what seems like endless AI use dominating the news cycle, educators find it hard to know which applications truly support learning and expand student knowledge. During the edLeader Panel "Improving Literacy Outcomes with AI: Lessons from Schools Around the World," seasoned education leaders shared their success with AI-powered tools, including free tools like Microsoft Reading Progress, to expand reading practice, provide timely feedback, and address learning gaps sooner. The panel took place on International Literacy Day.
How One Florida District Flipped Low-Performing Schools
School leaders from Broward County Public Schools in Florida wanted to assist teachers and provide students with reading and literacy support during class without taking away valuable instructional time. They wondered whether an AI-powered coach or tutor could help students in the background, meeting each student exactly where they needed the most support.
At the time, progress tracking and intervention were time consuming. Educators would take students out of class and manually test with printed reading passages to determine Lexile levels and word recognition. Leaders then piloted AI-powered tools for measurement and reading coaching (Microsoft Reading Progress and Reading Coach) across six schools most at risk of state takeover because of low proficiency rates.
With these smart tools, teachers no longer had to interrupt class for testing. They could track progress digitally and in real time, differentiating instruction faster and more effectively. Complementary AI-supported reading programs helped coach students on specific reading skills through smart games that students could complete easily and independently on their devices. With the added support, teachers continued direct instruction in groups or with the entire class.
The results were noteworthy. “I'm very proud to say that five out of those six schools were removed from the (takeover) list,” said Dr. Sherri N. Wilson, former Director of Innovative Learning for the district and current Principal of William Dandy Middle School.
AI-powered tools do not replace educators, explained Dr. Geri Gillespy, an experienced education leader and the Director, Industry Advisor for Microsoft Elevate in the Americas. Instead, they provide educators with detailed data insights, including word-level omissions, mispronunciations, fluency, and phoneme-level analysis, so they know exactly what to address and how to address student learning gaps. Students can also use AI-powered programs, like Reading Coach, that customize reading practice for additional support, where they work at their own pace and get immediate feedback on pronunciation, syllabification, and vocabulary.
Students in Australia Improved by 112%
Brisbane Catholic Education in Queensland, Australia, was one of the first in the world to enlist AI for all educational staff. Leigh Williams, Information and Technology Executive for Brisbane Catholic Education, explained that the collective community is now heavily invested in AI across its 150 schools serving 80,000 students.
For literacy, leaders started rolling out Reading Progress and Reading Coach in grades 1-7. In addition, they created a custom AI agent named “Shelly” to support teachers and generate personalized reading passages for each student. “Shelly was triangulating data points to look at the exact literacy and reading learning level of every single student in the classroom,” said Williams.
Instead of teachers building reading passages for two or three groups of students, every child in the classroom got their own reading passage. Students then practiced fluency using Reading Progress, and educators used the data to inform what they put in Reading Coach to support each student's reading. Leaders compared results with students who did not use AI-powered tools.
“Students achieved 112 percent growth in reading fluency and pronunciation over ten weeks, compared to 52 percent growth for students using only standard literacy programs,” Williams said. Student engagement increased markedly, with teachers observing that students self-directed their learning and articulated their own metacognitive strategies.
How to Get Started
Reading about supports and implementing them are two entirely different things. All panelists emphasized that successful implementation depends on building trust with stakeholders, starting small with the highest-need student populations, and curating content aligned to district priorities. Powerful AI learning accelerators can help schools personalize learning, and when effective implementation is proven on a smaller scale, it lays the groundwork for more precise implementation across entire districts.
Dr. Wilson emphasized that the old adage, "Measure twice, cut once," applies—be very targeted, find your controlled variable for best implementation, and then build capacity to carry that same process on in the following years.
Learn more about this edWeb broadcast, Improving Literacy Outcomes with AI: Lessons from Schools Around the World, sponsored by Microsoft Education.
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Article by Suzanne Bell, based on this edLeader Panel
