AI Research and Innovation
Responsible Artificial Intelligence Puts People First
For more than 55 years, Curriculum Associates’ mission has been to make classrooms better places for teachers and students. That mission now guides how we explore AI in education — building ethical, human-centered AI designed in partnership with educators, grounded in the learning sciences, and developed and refined in real classrooms.
While i-Ready Assessment and Personalized Instruction products today do not contain generative AI functionality for educators or students, we're committed to advancing responsible AI that helps teachers meet the needs of every student.
Our Guiding Principles
Six key principles guide our AI work, building on our company values and commitment to the one million educators and 17 million students we serve.
- Impactful—Improve student outcomes through ongoing rigorous research and continuous improvement.
- Fair—Accelerate learning opportunities for every student.
- Collaborative—Co-create with educators, students, and school communities.
- Secure—Protect data privacy and security through strong safeguards and responsible stewardship.
- Human Centered—Develop AI that reinforces teacher expertise and keeps relationships at the core of learning.
- Transparent—Be clear about what we build, how it works, and its impact on learning.
Hear from Our Experts
AI in Education Assessment: Designing for Validity, Not ...
Dr. Kristen Huff and Dr. Amelia Kelly explore how AI in education assessment can evolve responsibly.
Building Trust through Responsible Design
John Higginson writes for THE AI JOURNAL on artificial intelligence and student privacy
Guest Post: A Decade of Building Responsible Voice AI fo...
Dr. Amelia Kelly’s Digital Promise blog explores how AI needs to support learners fairly and safely.
AI in Education: The Future of Learning, Teaching & Tale...
John Higginson joins NASSCOM, exploring the evolving role of AI in education.
Finding Their Voice: Voice AI for Literacy Support
Dr. Kristen Huff and Dr. Amelia Kelly join Ed Technical to discuss the realities of developing AI in educ...
Safeguarding Students—Why Responsible AI in Education Is...
Dr. Amelia Kelly shares the importance of building fair, privacy-first voice AI with educators.
What Our Customers Say
Participating in the pilot wasn’t just about trying a new approach to assessing literacy using voice AI. It was about being on the front end of innovation and shaping how technology can meaningfully support teachers and students in real classrooms.
Our Approach to AI in Education
One truth guides our work with millions of students and educators nationwide: learning is, at its core, a human endeavor. Relationships between students, teachers, and families drive real and lasting growth. AI can support this work, but only when used thoughtfully, intentionally, and in service of skilled instruction.
Building responsible AI-powered tools for education takes time. We are learning from educators and students to understand how AI can best support every classroom’s needs and how we can make it even better.
As we explore potential future applications of AI in i-Ready, our aim is to help educators:
- Create more time for human connection and instruction
- Gain timely insights that can inform instructional decisions
- Use technology purposefully and responsibly in support of student needs
- Keep teaching and learning centered on the relationships that matter most
Educator Resources
BlogPutting Students at the Heart of EdTech: Lessons from Ou...
Principal Eric Alston shares how student-centered AI piloting built reading confidence and reshaped educa...
Blog3 Practical Ways Educators Are Using AI without Losing t...
Explore how educators use AI to save time, personalize learning, and deliver feedback responsibly.
Understanding the "Artificial" in Artificial Intelligenc...
Written by Dr. Emma O'Neill, this article discusses how AI education tools work, their limitations, and h...
Exploring Purpose-Built Voice AI Technology
The SoapBox speech engine is our proprietary voice AI technology, built from the ground up for education and designed to support children’s unique voices, speech patterns, and busy classroom environments.
We’re currently piloting the use of this technology for limited use cases with a small, selected group of educators and students who have opted into this pilot. Their experiences and feedback are helping us explore how voice AI could support teaching and learning, while keeping educators and students at the center of its development.
Certified by Digital Promise for privacy, fairness, and transparent design, SoapBox speech engine reflects our commitment to developing responsible, human centered AI that puts educators and students first.
Certified by Digital Promise
Our voice AI is the first to earn Digital Promise’s Responsibly Designed AI certification, helping educators identify tools built to serve all students fairly and securely.