Everest Nevraumont, a 10-year-old student at Alpha School Austin, scrolled through a lesson on a laptop Tuesday morning while U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon gazed over her shoulder. Nevraumont explained how she can go through the lessons, created by artificial intelligence, largely at her own pace.
“In reading, I’m grade nine, but in math I’m only grade five,” Nevraumont said. “In reading, I’ve advanced way faster.”
Looking on, McMahon said the model was “the most exciting thing (she’s) seen in the education world in a long time.”
McMahon visited Alpha School, a private school in the Barton Hills area of Southwest Austin, to learn about its “2-hour learning” model, which uses AI-developed curriculum to teach core instruction.
The Austin visit was another stop on McMahon’s “Returning Education to the States” tour, in which she has so far visited roughly a dozen schools, following a March executive order from President Donald Trump to dismantle the Education Department.
During the visit, McMahon praised the Alpha School’s use of AI as an opportunity for other schools to develop new tools for teachers.
“Let’s be motivated in our states and in our school systems to inspire them to be curious enough to come and understand what is happening here,” McMahon said.