AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) announced in a recent news release that a writing tool from Packback will be available for grades seven through 12 for the 2023-2024 academic year. The benefiting schools are members of AVID, which contracts with districts on an annual basis.
Packback is an AI-enabled digital coach that analyzes students’ writing and provides real-time feedback. According to its website, the platform allows students to post questions relevant to the topic they are writing about. The questions can be open-ended or in yes-or-no format, but the feedback is aimed at engaging a critical-thinking process, not just answering questions for a classroom assignment or generating requested content.
The AI can flag inappropriate inquiries and guide students on how to post more effectively. Packback also provides individualized feedback on writing assignments, whether poems, essays or term papers. According to the news release, the purpose of this tool is to help students through the writing process as well as build their confidence and sense of inquiry. It also has an AI-detection tool to guard against plagiarism.
AVID CEO Thuan Nguyen said that, for grades nine through 12, Packback is used in a life skills and college preparation course designed by AVID that is simply known as “Elective.” For grades seven through eight, the tool is used in AVID Excel Elective, which is for students who are learning English. He said the program mainly benefits lower-income students who aspire to become the first generation in their family to attend college.
“Writing tends to be a gatekeeper for generations getting into more advanced coursework,” Nguyen said. “We know students become better writers by writing more.”
Packback users include school districts in Hamilton County, Tenn.; Hillsborough County, Fla.; and Portland, Ore. According to the news release, a recent pilot study found the tool increased student performance in those districts while reducing the amount of time teachers spent on writing assessments by 60 percent. The idea is that with less paperwork, teachers have more time to give students personalized instruction.
“AVID shares our commitment to helping students learn and master the process of writing, as opposed to just focusing on the end result,” Kasey Gandham, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Packback, said in the news release. “While AI is only becoming more powerful, it will never be able to replicate a student’s unique voice: what a student is trying to say and why they care to say it. We’re honored to join forces with AVID to use this emerging technology in ways that help students build not just the skills, but also the confidence, to share their voices with the world.”
Nguyen said AVID will host webinars in early August to help its members get up to speed with the tool quickly before the academic year begins.
According to its website, AVID supports more than 2 million students and 8,000 schools (K-12) in urban, rural and suburban areas across the United States annually. The agency was established in 1980. Packback, based in Chicago, supports more than 1.5 million students and 8,000 instructors.
Nguyen said AVID is funded by membership fees, and some districts are able to use federal funds for this type of programming. He added that partnering with school districts is an involved process where the two entities map out goals and an action plan. The onboarding process usually takes about a year.
“It’s a long journey where entire teams are involved,” he said. “This is not something that would ever be considered ‘just another program.’”