Aspire Public Schools

In recent years, AI‐based applications have increasingly been used in real‐world domains. For example, game theory–based decision aids have been successfully deployed in various security settings to protect ports, airports, and wildlife. This article describes our unique problem‐to‐project educational approach that used games rooted in real‐world issues to teach AI concepts to diverse audiences. Specifically, our educational program began by presenting real‐world security issues, and progressively introduced complex AI concepts using lectures, interactive exercises, and ultimately hands‐on games to promote learning. We describe our experience in applying this approach to several audiences, including students of an urban public high school, university undergraduates, and security domain experts who protect wildlife. We evaluated our approach based on results from the games and participant surveys.

Student absences are a potentially important, yet understudied, input in the educational process. Using longitudinal data from a nationally representative survey and rich administrative records from North Carolina, we investigate the relationship between student absences and academic performance. Generally, student absences are associated with modest but statistically significant decreases in academic achievement. The harmful effects of absences are approximately linear, and are two to three times larger among fourth and fifth graders in North Carolina than among kindergarten and first-grade students in the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. In both datasets, absences similarly reduce achievement in urban, rural, and suburban schools. In North Carolina, the harm associated with student absences is greater among both low-income students and English language learners, particularly for reading achievement. Also, in North Carolina, unexcused absences are twice as harmful as excused absences. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed.