Adapted from Paul Roetzer’s version for business

The Augmented K–16 AI Learning Framework

A practical framework for helping K–16 leaders, instructional designers, educators, facilitators, novice teachers, and AI agents use artificial intelligence to strengthen learning while protecting human judgment, collaboration, privacy, and instructional purpose.

Tool names are examples of current frontier AI ecosystems. Schools and universities should substitute locally approved tools based on privacy agreements, licensing, accessibility, curriculum fit, and policy.
View Embedded Visuals Explore the Six Roles Scenario Tools

Framework at a Glance

Human-centered AI should reduce routine workload and increase time for feedback, relationships, discussion, and creation.
Pedagogy-first AI use should be tied to clear instructional strategies such as SOLO, ACE, scaffolding, inquiry, and reflection.
Screen-time aware AI should often launch offline thinking, peer collaboration, hands-on work, and analog learning experiences.

Instructional, Privacy, and AI Adoption Links

This framework connects AI use with learning science, privacy protection, responsible adoption, and practical classroom implementation.

Embedded Visual Frameworks

The following visuals rebuild the core content from the attached graphics in a common TCEA blue, gold, and white style. They are embedded directly in this page as HTML/CSS, so they remain editable, printable, and self-contained.

District Adoption

Five Phases of School District AI Adoption

AI adoption is not a single decision. Schools move through phases as they clarify policy, manage accounts, publish guidance, integrate curriculum, and communicate with the community. Read the TCEA article.

1

AI Secured

AI tools are restricted or blocked while basic safety, policy, and communication questions are addressed.

2

AI Exploration

Teachers and staff begin limited exploration with guardrails, informal pilots, and early parent communication.

3

AI Pilot Programs

Selected classrooms or programs test approved AI uses with clearer guidance, accounts, and learning goals.

4

AI Unification

District-wide policies, account management, curriculum use, and guidance become coordinated and consistent.

5

AI Everywhere

AI is integrated into policies, procedures, curriculum, teaching, learning, and community education.

Adoption Domains to Monitor

District Policy From prohibition to integrated policies and procedures.
Account Management From no accounts to secure, district-managed AI access.
District Guidance From enforcement-only guidance to role-specific support.
Curriculum Integration From no curriculum use to appropriate, standards-aligned workflows.
Community Outreach From basic notification to ongoing parent and community education.
Classroom Tool Evaluation

SHINE: Evaluating AI Tools for the Classroom

Use SHINE before adopting an AI tool for classroom use. The goal is to determine whether the tool is useful, transparent, necessary, and fair. Read the TCEA article.

S
01

Suitability

Does it align with curriculum goals, classroom needs, and learning objectives?

H
02

Human Oversight

Can teachers adjust settings, review outputs, and maintain control?

I
03

Insight into Data

What data is collected, how is it used, and can it be accessed for review?

N
04

Necessity and Novelty

Does AI solve a real problem or improve teaching and learning?

E
05

Ethics and Equity

Does it protect fairness, accessibility, and legal/ethical obligations?

Classroom problem example: Grading and feedback can be difficult at scale. Before adopting an AI grading tool, ask whether it fits the curriculum, allows human oversight, explains data use, adds genuine value, and protects equity.
Student Reflection

ACE: A Simple Learning Check

Use ACE in class or at home to help students show they understand an idea well enough to explain it, connect it, and use it in a new situation. View the ACE reference.

A Articulate It
Say it in your own words.
  • In my words...
  • This means...
  • The pattern I see is...
  • I can describe this as...
Classroom: Students take two minutes to explain the concept without copying notes.
C Connect It
Link it to what you already know.
  • This connects to...
  • The reason for this is...
  • This is similar to...
  • The bigger picture is...
Classroom: Students compare a historical event to one they already studied.
E Extend It
Use the idea in a new situation.
  • We can test this by...
  • I could use this to...
  • If I tried this with...
  • One question this raises is...
Classroom: Students apply a concept to a new problem, case, map, text, or dataset.
Learning Progression

The SOLO Taxonomy and AI Connection

SOLO helps educators see whether students are naming isolated facts, connecting ideas, or transferring understanding. Read more about SOLO.

SOLO Level

Pre-StructuralLittle or no relevant prior knowledge.
Uni-StructuralOne relevant idea, but limited application.
Multi-StructuralSeveral ideas listed, but not yet connected.
RelationalIdeas are connected into a coherent explanation.
Extended AbstractLearning transfers to new contexts.

Phase of Learning

Prior Knowledge
Surface Learning
Surface Learning
Deep Learning
Transfer Learning

AI Connection

Use low-stakes games or quick checks to surface what students already know.
Use basic prompts and retrieval practice to introduce core ideas.
Use curated AI summaries, SIFT, and questioning to compare perspectives.
Use AI brainstorming to help students connect ideas, then verify with evidence.
Use rapid prototyping to apply student-created frameworks to new problems.
Student Data Privacy

PROTECT Rubric: Safeguarding Student Data Privacy

Use the PROTECT categories to assess whether an educational technology or AI solution meets basic privacy, transparency, and data protection expectations. Read the TCEA PROTECT article.

1. Parental Rights and Access
2. Retention and Deletion
3. Opt-Out Options
4. Transparency
5. Encryption and Security
6. Consent and Age Restrictions
7. Third-Party Management
PROTECT
Student Data Privacy
Category Criteria Score
1. Parental Rights and Access States parent rights to access and control a child’s data and comply with applicable laws. 0–2
2. Retention and Deletion Specifies retention periods and provides a way to delete data. 0–2
3. Opt-Out Options Provides clear choices for opting out of data sharing or nonessential processing. 0–2
4. Transparency Lists what data is collected, how it is collected, and who owns it. 0–2
5. Encryption and Security Explains data protection measures, encryption, and security practices. 0–2
6. Consent and Age Restrictions Addresses age restrictions and consent requirements related to data collection. 0–2
7. Third-Party Management Identifies third parties and explains notification practices when changes occur. 0–2

Scoring guide: 0 = does not meet expectations, 1 = partially meets expectations, 2 = fully meets expectations. Maximum score: 14.

Scenario Tools

Each role includes a linked scenario tool. These tools are designed to generate printable products from canned problem-solving options, not just dialogue scripts.

LeaderAI Adoption Roadmap Builder
ArchitectResearch Essay Redesign Tool
BuilderEcosystem Unit Helper Builder
OrchestratorThird Thinker Debate Tool
ApprenticeParent Conference Product Builder
AgentsMisconception Grouping Tool

The Six Roles

1

The Leader

The visionary and policy maker who builds capacity, guardrails, and infrastructure.

Core Objective

Build systemic capacity and infrastructure for human-centric, AI-assisted learning environments.

Example Tools

ChatGPT 5.5 Enterprise Claude Enterprise BoodleBox

Instructional Strategy

Systemic change management and learning loop architecture: short, continuous improvement cycles instead of one-time workshops.

Tactical Tasks

  • Draft AI safety, data privacy, and academic integrity guardrails.
  • Audit data infrastructure for student privacy compliance.
  • Coordinate cross-department AI workflows for Curriculum, HR, IT, and administration.

The Concern

“This is just another ed-tech fad that adds more screen time and isolates students.”

The Response

Frame AI as an active conversational workspace that helps students move faster from screen-based preparation to real-world creation, critique, and collaboration.

Scenario: District AI Launch

A superintendent wants to allow AI use but is facing questions from parents, teachers, IT, and legal counsel. The Leader uses the Five Phases of School AI Adoption to determine whether the district is in AI Secured, AI Exploration, AI Pilot Programs, AI Unification, or AI Everywhere.

Product outcome: Generate an adoption phase snapshot, risk register, stakeholder communication checklist, and pilot criteria.

Open AI Adoption Roadmap Builder
2

The Architect

The instructional designer and curriculum specialist who protects rigor.

Core Objective

Integrate rigorous pedagogy into human-machine workflows while avoiding the offloading paradox.

Example Tools

Claude Opus 4.7 Gemini 3.5 Pro

Instructional Strategy

SOLO Taxonomy, Universal Design for Learning, and process-based assessment help ensure AI acts as a scaffold, not a shortcut.

Tactical Tasks

  • Map standards, curriculum, and assessments into coherent AI-supported learning pathways.
  • Build multimodal lesson options using audio, visual, and text-based supports.
  • Create rubrics that assess process, critique, revision, and AI interaction.

The Concern

“AI is destroying student writing and critical thinking.”

The Response

Design hybrid workflows: brief AI-assisted analysis followed by Socratic seminar, handwritten synthesis, oral defense, or peer critique.

Scenario: Redesigning the Research Essay

A college English department worries that take-home essays are becoming impossible to authenticate. The Architect redesigns the assignment around process checkpoints, AI critique, oral defense, and reflection.

Product outcome: Generate a redesigned assignment brief, process checkpoint map, AI-use disclosure, rubric, and oral defense prompts.

Open Research Essay Redesign Tool
3

The Builder

The AI-empowered educator who creates classroom scaffolds and custom assistants.

Core Objective

Create useful AI assistants, prompt templates, and classroom supports without needing a coding background.

Example Tools

NotebookLM Claude Projects Images 2.0

Instructional Strategy

Scaffolding, differentiated instruction, and ACE: Articulate, Connect, Extend help students explain, connect, and transfer their learning.

Tactical Tasks

  • Create source-grounded study hubs from approved readings and primary sources.
  • Generate classroom-ready visuals, diagrams, and infographics.
  • Build lesson-tuning agents aligned to local demographics, curriculum, and student needs.

The Concern

“Students are already glued to devices.”

The Response

Build AI tools that launch analog work: role plays, experiments, classroom measurements, discussion prompts, and hands-on tasks.

Scenario: Building a Source-Grounded Unit Helper

A high school biology teacher is preparing an ecosystem unit. The Builder creates a source-grounded study space and classroom-ready supports.

Product outcome: Generate a TEKS/NGSS-aligned unit helper, station cards, vocabulary support, differentiation menu, ACE prompts, and exit ticket.

Open Ecosystem Unit Helper Builder
4

The Orchestrator

The facilitator who manages active learning environments.

Core Objective

Guide students toward verification, critique, collaboration, and visible thinking instead of simple AI answers.

Example Tools

ChatGPT 5.5 Instant Gemini 3.5

Instructional Strategy

Inquiry-based learning, visible learning, feedback, questioning, and other high-effect size instructional strategies make student reasoning observable and improvable.

Tactical Tasks

  • Have students critique AI-generated arguments for bias, gaps, and missing evidence.
  • Use formative data to adjust instruction during a lesson.
  • Facilitate peer dialogue around ethical, civic, and real-world implications.

The Concern

“Technology reduces meaningful human interaction.”

The Response

Use AI as a “third thinker” that gives students something to challenge, revise, debate, and improve together.

Scenario: The AI as Third Thinker

In a government class, students study whether a city should ban cars from a downtown corridor. AI produces an argument that students audit, revise, and debate.

Product outcome: Generate a debate protocol, student role cards, evidence audit sheet, discussion norms, revision task, and exit ticket.

Open Third Thinker Debate Tool
5

The Apprentice

The novice educator or pre-service teacher developing clinical judgment.

Core Objective

Develop expert judgment, situational awareness, and relational empathy while using AI to reduce tactical workload.

Example Tools

ChatGPT 5.5 Claude Opus 4.7

Instructional Strategy

Cognitive apprenticeship, reflective practice, teacher clarity, feedback, and questioning help novice educators move from lesson-plan production to adaptive classroom decision-making.

Tactical Tasks

  • Compare multiple AI-generated lesson variations and defend the strongest choice.
  • Roleplay parent conferences, student behavior scenarios, and de-escalation conversations.
  • Analyze practice-teaching transcripts to improve questioning and feedback.

The Concern

“New teachers rely too much on technology and do not know how to command a room.”

The Response

Use AI to reduce nighttime administrative screen time so novice teachers can focus more on students, relationships, and live instruction.

Scenario: Practicing Before the Parent Conference

A pre-service teacher is nervous about a difficult parent conference involving missing assignments and classroom behavior.

Product outcome: Generate a meeting brief, agenda, solution menu, talking points, follow-up email, and optional practice prompts.

Open Parent Conference Product Builder
6

The Agents

The digital scaffolds that work behind the scenes.

Core Objective

Execute real-time differentiation, formative analysis, administrative support, and targeted tactical tasks.

Example Tools

Claude Opus 4.7 BoodleBox Multi-agent Workflows

Instructional Strategy

Formative assessment delivery, adaptive learning pathways, feedback loops, and targeted intervention help teachers respond to needs without isolating students.

Tactical Tasks

  • Rewrite complex texts at multiple reading levels.
  • Group open-ended quiz responses by misconception.
  • Draft standards-aligned family updates and multilingual communications.

The Concern

“Adaptive software traps students in individualized digital silos.”

The Response

Use agents in the background to create physical collaboration groups, targeted teacher conferences, and offline intervention pathways.

Scenario: Background Grouping for Human Intervention

After a math exit ticket, students submit short explanations of how they solved a proportional reasoning problem. Agents summarize patterns, and the teacher reviews the groupings before acting.

Product outcome: Generate a misconception grouping map, intervention station cards, teacher review checklist, regrouping guide, and exit ticket.

Open Misconception Grouping Tool

Implementation Flow

Leader
Sets secure infrastructure, uses PROTECT and SHINE, and frames AI as an active workspace, not passive ed-tech.
Architect
Builds SOLO, UDL, and process-based assessment into AI-supported learning workflows.
Builder
Creates guardrailed bots, source-grounded hubs, visual supports, and differentiated materials.
Orchestrator
Uses AI as a catalyst for critique, peer dialogue, verification, and visible thinking.
Apprentice
Uses AI to practice clinical judgment while reducing low-value administrative workload.
Agents
Handle background differentiation, grouping, summarization, and communication support.

Actionable Starting Points

  1. Identify your adoption phase: Use the Five Phases of School AI Adoption to determine whether your organization is in AI Secured, AI Exploration, AI Pilot Programs, AI Unification, or AI Everywhere.
  2. Start with policy and privacy: Define approved tools, privacy expectations, data-use limits, and academic integrity guidance using the TCEA PROTECT Rubric as a review lens.
  3. Use a responsible adoption frame: Apply the SHINE Framework to keep AI use safe, human-centered, instructionally meaningful, and ethically grounded.
  4. Start with workload relief: Let skeptical educators first use AI for administrative burdens before classroom implementation.
  5. Design for process: Assess prompts, revisions, critique, reflection, oral defense, and evidence of thinking using SOLO-style progression.
  6. Use ACE reflection: Ask learners to articulate, connect, and extend what they learned after AI-supported activities.
  7. Use high-impact strategies: Prioritize teacher clarity, feedback, formative assessment, visible thinking, and other high-effect size instructional strategies.
  8. Compress screen time: Use brief AI interactions to prepare students for discussion, writing, building, testing, and collaboration.
  9. Make limitations visible: Teach students to identify hallucinations, bias, weak evidence, missing context, and flawed reasoning.
  10. Keep humans in charge: AI can assist, sort, draft, and scaffold, but educators remain responsible for judgment, care, context, and final decisions.

The Augmented K–16 AI Learning Framework | Includes embedded HTML visuals for the Five Phases, SHINE, ACE, SOLO, and PROTECT | Adapted from Paul Roetzer for K–16 education by Miguel Guhlin (mguhlin.org)