Case Study

A Leader in Equitable Access to Education Leverages AI for Impact

February 2023
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Equal Opportunity Schools (EOS) is a national nonprofit that collaborates with school districts to increase equitable enrollment in rigorous college and career-prep secondary school courses. Its program model, Action for Equity (A4E), provides schools with the data, professional learning, and tools needed to select students for Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate courses to ensure future academic and career success. EOS’ goal is to create equitable systems that lead to greater college matriculation and career readiness for its students.

EOS collects a wide array of data to identify students for courses, and thought that a recommendation engine powered by AI would help its efforts. But the organization grappled with squaring this with its commitment to human-centered design; it did not want students to fall through the cracks as a result of automation. EOS also had concerns about the potential up-front investment, staff capacity, and required expertise of an AI project. Working with a Project Evident cohort, EOS created a blueprint of how artificial intelligence could work as a tool to further its outcomes in the near future.