Don't Ban It, Build With It: Leading Schools Through the AI Shift

Happy Thursday, Educational Leaders! We were starting to wonder why everyone in education seems a little more alive and energetic lately. Then we realized it must be because summer is getting closer and closer. 

Kidding aside, Educentric is keeping the momentum going, and we are excited to bring you our 57th newsletter edition. As we approach the end of the school year, we want to make the most of this stretch with a topic that is timely, relevant, and impossible to ignore.

This edition is about change.

Of course, change is nothing new in education. Schools adapt all the time. Leaders adjust plans, teachers shift instruction, students grow, and districts respond to new expectations every year. But the kind of change we are talking about today feels different. It has sparked excitement, concern, curiosity, and plenty of debate across the education world.

That change is Artificial Intelligence, or AI. 

We've Been Here Before

If we're being honest, this is not the first time education has found itself staring at a new technology and wondering what comes next.

There was a time when calculators were viewed as a threat to learning. Some worried students would become too dependent on them and lose the ability to think mathematically. Then came the internet. Suddenly, information that once required hours in a library could be found in seconds. Many educators questioned whether students would still learn how to research, think critically, or develop knowledge for themselves.

The same conversations surfaced when smartphones became common. Schools wrestled with whether they belonged in classrooms at all. Some embraced them. Others banned them. Most tried to figure it out as they went.

Looking back, it is easy to see that none of these technologies disappeared. Instead, schools gradually learned how to adapt. Policies, instructions, and expectations evolved. Eventually, these tools became part of the educational landscape.

Every generation of school leaders faces a shift that changes the way students learn. AI happens to be ours.

This Is Not About Right or Wrong

Before we go any further, let us be clear. This newsletter is not really about proving whether AI is right or wrong for schools. That conversation is much bigger than a single newsletter, and, frankly, it is already happening everywhere.

For us, the more useful conversation is this: AI is here because the world is changing. The way people work is changing. The way information is created, shared, and consumed is changing. The skills students will need after graduation are also changing. Whether we are comfortable with it or not, AI is part of that larger shift.

So the question for school leaders becomes less about whether AI should exist in education and more about what we are going to do with it now that it does.

We believe the opportunity is in proper use. Schools do not need to treat AI as something to fear, and they also should not treat it as a shortcut for thinking. The real work is helping students and staff understand how to use it responsibly, thoughtfully, and in ways that strengthen learning rather than weaken it.

That is where leadership matters. If AI is going to be part of the world our students are entering, then schools have a responsibility to help them navigate it well. The goal is not to let AI take over the work. The goal is to guide its use so it supports the work that matters most.

So, Where Does AI Fit in the Work?

Now, if you were to ask Educentric when and how AI should be used within our framework, we would start with the work schools already have to do.

Part of the Educentric process is helping school teams identify the strategies and tactics that will move them toward their Priority Objective. Those strategies and tactics are then measured through Key Progress Indicators and Key Results, so the team can see whether the work is actually moving in the right direction.

That planning process matters. It requires thought, context, discussion, and a strong understanding of the school’s real challenges. It also takes time. School teams may spend hours looking at data, naming the problem, identifying possible causes, and deciding which strategies and tactics are most likely to create progress.

This is one place where AI can become useful.

With tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and other AI platforms, leaders can begin asking better questions faster. They can provide a Priority Objective, describe the problem they are trying to solve, upload or summarize relevant data, and ask the tool to help generate possible strategies and tactics. From there, the team can narrow the ideas, test them against their context, and decide what actually makes sense for their school.

AI now becomes a thought partner. The school still brings the judgment. The school still brings the context. The school still knows its students, staff, culture, and community better than any tool ever could. But when used well, AI can help the team move faster from problem identification to possible action.

And in a busy school year, that kind of support matters.

A Thoughtful Step Forward

Of course, AI is far from perfect. It is still evolving, so schools should be careful not to rely on it as a final source of truth. It can misunderstand context and present information that still needs to be reviewed and questioned. Human judgment is still the finish line of it all.

For Educentric, the point is not to replace the thinking but to continue looking for ways to strengthen our methodology and improve our processes, as long as those tools remain within the scope and integrity of our proprietary model.

AI may help us ask better questions, organize ideas faster, and explore possible strategies with more efficiency. Still, the real work belongs to the leaders and teams who know their schools best. That balance is where we believe the opportunity lives.

We would love to hear your thoughts around this. How are you thinking about AI in your schools or districts? Where do you see promise, and where do you still have questions?

We’ll catch up with you again in our next edition.