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The Iowa Department of Education announced Wednesday that some elementary schools will use an AI reading assistant to help with literacy tutoring programs.

The department made a $3 million investment into for the use of a program called EPS Reading Assistant, an online literacy tutor that uses artificial intelligence technology. Iowa public and non-public elementary schools will be able to use the service at no cost through the summer of 2025, according to the department news release.

鈥淩eading unlocks a lifetime of potential, and the Department鈥檚 new investment in statewide personalized reading tutoring further advances our shared commitment to strengthening early literacy instruction,鈥� McKenzie Snow, the education department director said in a statement. 鈥淭his work builds upon our comprehensive advancements in early literacy, spanning world-class state content standards, statewide educator professional learning, evidence-based summer reading programs, and Personalized Reading Plans for students in need of support.鈥�

The program uses voice recognition technology to follow along as a child reads out loud, providing corrective feedback and assessments when the student struggles through a digital avatar named Amira. According to the service鈥檚 website, the program is designed around the 鈥淪cience of Reading鈥� approach to literary education 鈥� a method that emphasizes the teaching of phonics and word comprehension when students are learning to read.

Gov. Kim Reynolds and state education experts, including have said that this teaching strategy will help improve the state鈥檚 child literacy rates, pointing to reading scores increasing in following the implementation of 鈥渟cience of reading鈥� methods.

In May, Reynolds that set new early literacy standards for teachers, as well as adding requirements for how schools and families address when a student does not meet reading proficiency standards. These requirements include creating a personalized assistance plan for the child until they are able to reach grade-level reading proficiency and notifying parents and guardians of students in kindergarten through sixth grade that they can request their child repeats a grade if they are not meeting the literacy benchmarks.

Reynolds said the law was a 鈥渢o make literacy a priority in every Iowa classroom and for every Iowa student.鈥�

The AI-backed tutor program is being funded through the state education department鈥檚 portion from the federal , part of a COVID-era measure providing states with additional funding for pandemic recovery efforts. The federal fund allocated more than $774 million to Iowa in 2021.

In addition to the new AI-backed programming available, the fund money is also going toward Summer Reading Grants, for efforts to address summer learning loss and close achievement gaps. The elementary schools that won grants have all 鈥渁ffirmed their commitment to including the personalized reading tutor as part of their evidence-based programming,鈥� according to the news release.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: [email protected]. Follow Iowa Capital Dispatch on and .

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