近距离内射合集

LAS CRUCES 鈥� On Tuesday, 35 New Mexico lawmakers, including four Republicans, signed a letter to state Public Education Secretary Mariana Padilla expressing 鈥渟erious concerns鈥� about the use of a generative AI tech product for testing reading fluency in elementary schools.

The chatbot, Amira, is presented by the Amira Learning company as a 鈥渓earning agent for reading growth.鈥�

As of last school year, the Public Education Department requires all students from kindergarten through second grade to take reading assessments through Amira by reading out loud to the chatbot. The students鈥� scores are included in data used to assess the academic performance of school sites and their districts.

Over a dozen school districts and one public charter school have opted out of the PED requirement in favor of non-AI programs, at least temporarily, the PED told the Journal on Tuesday.

The Senate and House members who signed the letter, led by state Rep. Linda Serrato, D-Santa Fe, urged enhanced outreach to parents to inform them about the tool, require consent and safeguard children鈥檚 personal data, including recordings of their voices.

Parents and educators lined up at last week鈥檚 meeting of the Las Cruces Public Schools鈥� governing board, overseeing New Mexico鈥檚 second-largest school district, to push back against the rapid adoption of Amira. Additionally, board member Teresa Tenorio read pages of written comments from community members who were not present.

The district uses Amira for K-2 assessments and up to fifth grade for certain elementary schools based on their reading proficiency scores.

The dominant concerns expressed at the Aug. 18 meeting were the retention of voice recordings of children without knowledge or consent, as well as reports that the program does not perform accurate assessments of children with accents or challenges in hearing or speech.

, Amira Learning states that it does not create voiceprints or store identifying biometric information and complies with all applicable student confidentiality laws. However, several who addressed comments to the board said they did not trust such assurances.

Commenters also criticized the growing role of educational tech products and screen time in the classroom, including for New Mexico鈥檚 youngest students, arguing it detracted from the personal connection between teacher and pupil.

Deputy Superintendent Wendi Miller-Tomlinson said the recordings were a document teachers could review to assess students鈥� ability to decode text, pronounce sounds and read with expression, tracking children鈥檚 progress through the 鈥渟cience of reading鈥� approach, which incorporates interdisciplinary research into how children learn to read.

鈥淭his is a tool. Teachers use the tool,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe that most teachers are over-reliant or relying on any platform or program to teach kids how to read. 鈥� They use it how it is best used for them, to get that data to help them inform instruction.鈥�

Miller-Tomlinson said the student information captured by Amira was subject to federal and state privacy laws as well as contract terms negotiated by the PED during procurement. In light of community concerns, Miller-Tomlinson said Amira鈥檚 voice recordings will not be stored after the assessments are complete, and that LCPS had received confirmation that all recordings of the district鈥檚 students had been deleted.

The district is also making in-person assessments available upon request, though Miller-Tomlinson noted that that option takes more time: Approximately half an hour, compared to 10 minutes or so with Amira.

Board member Bob Wofford asked for any data showing how well Amira is helping students compared to other programs or methods, but Miller-Tomlinson said little was available, as Amira is only in its second year at LCPS and the first year鈥檚 performance would be affected by classrooms learning how to use the program and equipment.

Moreover, Miller-Tomlinson suggested Amira鈥檚 days could be numbered anyway.

鈥淭he state is going to shortly release a request for proposal for a new K-2 assessment, and I don鈥檛 think that this would be selected again,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his assessment is likely either on its way out or to be joined with other options, if it were to be selected again.鈥�

Algernon 顿鈥橝尘尘补蝉蝉补 is the Journal鈥檚 southern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at adammassa@abqjournal.com.