Board OKs short pilot with Wisdom K12 for automated writing feedback; teachers to remain primary reviewers

The Franklin Regional School Board approved a district pilot of Wisdom K12’s writing‑feedback software on Feb. 10, authorizing a no‑cost pilot the rest of the 2024‑25 school year and directing administrators to evaluate the product before any extension.

Dr. Matthew Delp, presenting for the administration, said the district began discussions with Wisdom K12 in July and had planned an earlier implementation. Technical and platform issues delayed rollout, Delp said; the company recently completed a platform migration and the district will pilot two built‑in rubrics and additional rubrics as they become available.

Dr. Delp described the pilot as operationally ready for middle‑school English classes: “We are able to use it operationally, as it stands currently with the two rubrics that they have available to us,” he said, and the district intends to evaluate whether the tool provides “timely and formative feedback to have an influence on the writing product.” The pilot is described as a limited, time‑bound implementation; the administration will report back at the end of the school year for a decision about extension.

Board members asked detailed questions about how the product works. Delp said the vendor uses a proprietary model and that district staff did not have definitive public documentation on whether the underlying large language model is a proprietary LLM or a front end to a third‑party model. He said the rubrics provided can be aligned to the district’s RACE essay framework and to PSSA‑style prompts, and that additional rubrics (for AP or other genres) may be added over time.

Concerns raised by board members included the risk that automated feedback could accept poor grammar if rubrics prioritize content, the possibility that teachers would reduce one‑on‑one feedback time if they rely on software, and the need to keep the teacher in the loop. Dr. Delp acknowledged that the technology cannot remove the human element: “The teacher still remains a very viable piece of that feedback puzzle,” he said. Administrators emphasized that the pilot’s purpose is to speed feedback cycles, not to replace teacher judgment or summative evaluation.

The board approved the pilot for the remainder of the school year and asked administration to provide end‑of‑year evaluation data and to continue to vet other AI tools as part of the district’s technology review. The approval on Feb. 10 allowed implementation to begin with monitoring and review.