AI in Texas special education: what to ask first
AI tools for special education are new, and Texas districts are asking good questions about them. Here is what we think every district should ask, and how SpEd Insight™ answers.
Demos use made-up students. Please don't send student information.
- Before any student data: your district signs the TX-NDPA. Student data will be loaded only after that.
- Where data goes: we will host on AWS in the US, with encryption. Student data will never be sold or used for advertising.
- IEPs are education records under FERPA. Under your district's signed TX-NDPA, records will stay under your district's direct control.
- How we handle data
1. Does every draft cite its source?
A draft you can't check is a draft you can't trust. In SpEd Insight, every draft cites its source: the FIE, the IEP or your district's data. See how IEP drafting from the FIE works.
2. Who decides?
AI prepares the draft; the educator reviews, edits and confirms it. AI drafts are proposals for your ARD committee, including the parent, to review and decide. Intensity of service ratings are advisory: staff confirm or change each one, and a rating never decides funding or services.
3. Where does student data go, and when?
When a district signs the Texas Student Privacy Alliance's Standard Student Data Privacy Agreement (TX-NDPA), SpEd Insight will work with that district's student records as a school official under the district's direct control over how the records are used and kept. We will use student data only to provide the service to that district, will not re-disclose it except as the district directs or the law allows, and will never sell it or use it for advertising. No student data will be loaded until your district signs the TX-NDPA.
SpEd Insight is being built around NIST CSF 2.0; AWS US; only HIPAA-eligible AWS services; encryption in transit and at rest; MFA.
IEPs are education records under FERPA. Under your district's signed TX-NDPA, records will stay under your district's direct control. How we handle data.
4. How do people sign in?
SpEd Insight is built for sign-in with your district's Google or Microsoft account. Multi-factor authentication will be required for every account before any student data is loaded.
5. What is built today, and what isn't?
Ask for status labels in plain words. Ours: Built, in pilot prep: intensity of service scoring (advisory; it never decides funding), the draft PEIMS prep file, IEP drafting from the FIE, the case manager and director dashboard, and the parent ARD prep sheet in English and Spanish. Progress report drafts are auto-prepared from your goal data with a template, not AI, and the case manager reviews and approves them (also built, in pilot prep). Built, in testing: parent contact outcome drafts. Everything else is labeled Coming.
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AI prepares the draft; the educator reviews, edits and confirms it. Every draft cites its source.
Demos use made-up students. Please don't send student information.