Join the Conversational AI Tutor (CAIT) Study!

Will supporting students’ problem solving with the addition of a conversational AI tutor cause more learning for students than usual supports? We are seeking 6th and 7th-grade general education math teachers who teach Illustrative Mathematics to help us find out.

Let us know you're interested

Study Timeline

Application Period

May 1- September 15, 2026: Teachers express interest, learn more, confirm participation

September 2026: Randomization into CAIT and usual supports
‍
‍Summer/Fall 2026 Eligible schools identified
‍

Fall 2026

6th Grade: When you normally teach Illustrative Math Unit 3 - Unit Rates and Percentages
‍
7th Grade: When you normally teach Illustrative Math Unit 4 - Proportional Relationships and Percentages

While teaching the unit
‍
Assign from ASSISTments regularly (2–3 times per week)

Administer the Pre and End of Unit Assessment.

‍
‍

Research Activities

Teachers complete a few research activities that takes about 2-3 hours in total
‍
• Distribute parent permission forms
• Have the class be observed 1-2 times if selected
• Take two teacher surveys
• Administer a student survey
• Participate in an interview if selected

I'm interested!

Adding AI Support to one Unit of Study

We will compare the usual supports in ASSISTments with those delivered through our conversational AI tutor, which we call CAIT. With CAIT, students will be encouraged to ask questions about math problems and receive step-by-step support on many of them, walking them through to a solution. When they struggle with a problem, they will also be given the opportunity to try again on a similar but not the same problem, which will allow them to improve their scores and learning.

Participation Details

The study will not interrupt your teaching schedule. For teachers selected to use CAIT, we will just turn it on during that unit. For 6th Grade, it will be during Illustrative Math Unit 3 - Unit Rates and Percentages. For 7th Grade, it will be during Illustrative Math Unit 4 - Proportional Relationships and Percentages. We request that you use ASSISTments test mode to give the IM pre-unit assessment before starting teaching the unit and then give the end-of-unit assessment after you are done with the unit.

Eligibility

Participating teachers must meet the following criteria:

‍

Districts sign an MOU to approve the study and agree to share individual student’s demographic data

Teachers are:
- 6th or 7th-grade general education teachers
- Willing and able to consistently use ASSISTments to assign online
- Students are able to complete internet-based math classwork or homework

We do NOT require all teachers in a grade level to participate. We are specifically excited to serve minority, low-income, and rural communities.

Benefits and Compensation for Participating Teachers

Benefits

‍

Contribute important knowledge to the field about math teaching and learning. Support the understanding of using AI to support student learning.

Compensation
‍
All teachers will receive a stipend of up to $500 for study collection activities, prorated upon completion.

Our Partners

This project is generously funded by the Institute of Education Sciences and is being carried out in partnership with Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and WestEd. The study is an independent evaluation conducted by WestEd, a nonprofit research and development organization.

Teachers

Teacher 1
- “I like that it has those prompts, do I get help or do I have a question, I do like those two prompts, like I don’t have any idea of where to start so I’m pushing Get Help, but if I have a question, I like that I can say to [CAIT] that I already know something about it but don’t know how to do it, that it’s not just Get Help.”
- “Sometimes students just need a little bit of reassurance that they’re doing the right thing, especially with math. It’s like a crutch of ‘I need to know that I’m doing it right,’ so I like that they can interact with [CAIT] that way before just getting the answer.”
Teacher 2
- “I like CAIT more than I like the hints that are on ASSISTments. I like that it’s more interactive and kids can ask questions. They’re not just pressing ‘I need help’ to get a hint like they currently are, so I like how there’s more thinking and critical thinking about what is my question.”

Benefits:

During the 2020-2021 school year, all 7th grade teachers (whether in the delayed-use or immediate-use group) will
Receive a stipend of $500 for full participation in research data collection activities
Receive free access to NWEA MAP Growth assessment
Per the above participation timeline, all 6th and 7th grade teachers will be invited to participate in the vPLC and earn an $800 stipend for full participation either during 2021-2022, or 2022-2023

Eligibility criteria: Participating districts and schools must meet the following criteria

7th grade general education teachers are using Eureka/EngageNY, Illustrative Math, or Open Up Resources as their main curriculum, and willing to consistently use ASSISTments to assign from their curriculum.
7th grade students in the school are able to complete internet-based math classwork and homework
The school is not already using ASSISTments in 6th grade or 7th grade

We are specifically excited to serve minority, low-income and rural communities.

We’d love for you to join our study.

We welcome applications and interest forms from teachers, school administrators, or district
administrators. If you have specific questions, feel free to email us at caitstudy@wested.org.